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OF    ILLINOIS 

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THE   HISTORY 


ILLINOIS  AND  LOUISIANA 


UNDER  THE   FRENCH   RULE 


EMBRACING  A  GENERAL  VIEW  OF 


THE   FRENCH    DOMINION    IN    NORTH  AMERICA 


WITH    SOME   ACCOUNT   OF   THE 


ENGLISH  OCCUPATION   OF  ILLINOIS 


BY 

JOSEPH  WALLACE 

Counselor  at  Law 
Author  of  "  Life  of  Colonel  Edward  D.  Baker,"  e 


History  recommends  itself  as  the  most  profitable  of  studies. — T.  CARLYLE 


CINCINNATI 

ROBERT   CLARKE   &   CO 

1893 


COPYRIGHT,  1893, 
BY  JOSEPH  WALLACE. 


,1- 
A, 


PREFACE. 


"  No  period  in  the  history  of  one's  own  country,"  says 
an  elegant  historian,*  "  can  be  considered  altogether  unin- 
teresting. Such  transactions  as  tend  to  illustrate  the  pro- 
gress of  its  constitution,  laws  or  manners,  merit  the  utmost 
attention.  Even  remote  and  minute  events  are  objects  of 
a  curiosity,  which,  being  natural  to  the  human  mind,  the 
gratification  of  it  is  attended  with  pleasure." 

With  this  conception  of  the  interest  and  utility  of  his 
work,  the  author  undertook  to  compose  the  following 
history.  Much  has  been  written  and  printed  at  different 
times  (in  State,  county  and  general  histories),  respecting 
the  French  in  Illinois  and  Louisiana,  but  it  is  mostly  in  an 
abridged  or  detached  form,  and  one  rarely  finds  any  con- 
nected and  consecutive  view  of  the  French  domination, 
from  its  commencement  to  its  close.  Although  the  territory 
comprised  within  the  limits  of  the  present  State  of  Illinois 
was  ruled  by  France  for  ninety  years,  it  was  never  as  a 
separate  colony  or  province,  but  always  as  a  dependency 
of  either  Canada  or  Louisiana.  Hence,  no  history  of  Illi- 
nois, during  that  early  period,  can  be  considered  complete, 
which  does  not  embrace  that  of  the  Province  of  Louisiana, 
of  which  it  so  long  formed  a  part. 

In  the  preparation  of  this  volume  the  writer,  without 
laying  claim  to  what  scholars  call  original  research,  has  ex- 


Robertson,  (iii) 


iv  Preface. 

amined  every  available  source  of  information  relating  to 
his  theme,  so  as  to  verify  facts,  reconcile  or  explain  con- 
flicting dates  and  accounts,  and  render  it  as  accurate  and 
trustworthy  as  possible.  No  parade  need  here  be  made  of 
the  various  authorities  consulted  and  freely  used  by  him, 
since  they  will  be  disclosed  in  the  progress  of  the  narrative 
itself. 

In  writing  Indian,  French  and  Spanish  proper  names, 
the  author  has,  as  a  rule,  conformed  to  the  received  or- 
thography, though  it  is  not  always  easy  to  determine  just 
what  that  is,  since  standard  writers  still  differ  considerably 
in  this  particular.  Among  the  early  annalists  there  was  no  • 
recognized  rule,  nor  could  well  have  been  any,  in  regard  to 
nomenclature,  and  therefore  each  writer  was  a  law  unto 
himself.  This,  together  with  the  different  geographical 
locations  often  assigned  by  them  to  the  same  aboriginal 
tribes,  gave  rise  to  more  or  less  contradiction  in  their  nar- 
ratives, which  have  been  a  source  of  perplexity  to  mod- 
ern historiographers. 

Although  this  work  is  primarily  confined  to  the  doings 
of  the  French  in  the  Mississippi  Valley,  yet  such  a  general 
view  is  taken  of  their  transactions  in  other  parts  of  the 
continent  as  to  render  it,  in  some  measure,  a  compendious 
history  of  the  French  Dominion  in  North  America. 
Without  overlooking  any  important  or  familiar  fact, 
the  author  has  introduced  much  matter  that  will  be 
new  and  curious  to  the  general  reader.  In  gleaning 
BO  wide  a  field,  and  in  carrying  the  book  through  the 
press  at  a  distance  from  his  residence,  he  may  have 
fallen  into  some  errors  and  inaccuracies,  but  it  is  believed 
these  will  be  found  few  in  number  and  restricted  to  minor 
details. 

It  might  be  thought  superfluous,  at  this  time  and  place, 


Preface.  v 

to  descant  upon  the  absorbing  interest  that  must  ever  at- 
tach to  that  pristine  period  of  American  history  of  which 
we  write,  hackneyed  as  it  is.  But  the  new  and  strange  ex- 
periences of  the  early  explorers  and  colonizers^  of  this  con- 
tinent can  never  be  repeated,  and  the  record  they  made 
will  stand  unchanged  for  all  future  time.  The  Indians,  too, 
who  then  peopled  the  solitudes  of  our  forests  and  prairies, 
have  vanished  never  more  to  return,  leaving  behind  them, 
as  the  only  enduring  vestiges  of  their  presence,  the  names 
which  they  gave  to  the  physical  features  of  the  country. 

"  Their  names  remain,  but  they  are  fled, 
For  ever  numbered  with  the  dead." 

There  are  now  no  other  new  continents  or  large  islands 
to  be  discovered ;  all  the  habitable  globe  has  been  overrun  ; 
and  henceforth  the  business  of  civilized  man  upon  it  will 
be  to  possess,  enjoy,  cultivate  and  develop  its  marvelous  re- 
sources. 

To  the  descendants  of  the  pioneer  French  colonists  in 
North  America,  and  particularly  to  those  residing  within 
the  great  Basin  of  the  Mississippi,  the  theme  of  this  gen- 
eral narrative  must  have  a  peculiar  and  perennial  attraction. 
In  the  daring  and  memorable  achievements  of  their  heroic 
predecessors,  they  may  not  only  cherish  a  just  and  lauda- 
ble pride,  but  find  solace  and  satisfaction  for  that  inscruta- 
ble decree  of  fate,  or  Providence,  whereby  this  vast,  most 
fertile  and  favored  region,  was  wrested  from  their  grasp  to 
ultimately  become  the  geographical  center  of  one  of  the 
mightiest,  most  enlightened  and  progressive  empires  on  the 
face  of  the  earth. 

In  concluding  these  prefatory  observations,  it  re- 
mains for  the  writer  to  acknowledge  his  obligations,  in 
the  prosecution  of  his  laborious  researches,  to  the  repeated 
kind  offices  of  the  intelligent  and  efficient  librarian  of  the 


vi  Preface. 

Illinois  (State)  Historical  Library,  and  also  to  the  assistant 
librarian  of  the  State  Library. 

The  copious  and  comprehensive  index  at  the  close  of 
the  work  will  be  found  very  convenient  for  reference,  and 
not  without  occasional  use  in  elucidating  the  text  of  the 
history. 

SPRINGFIELD,  ILLINOIS,  September,  1893. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE. 

PREFACE iii 

CHAPTER  I. 
1497-1690. 

INTRODUCTORY  NARRATIVE  ;  OR,  DISCOVERY  AND  SETTLEMENT  OF  CAN- 
ADA        1 

CHAPTER  II. 

1539-1671. 
DISCOVERY  OF  THE  MISSISSIPPI  RIVER,  AND  OF  THE  NORTH-WBST 24 

CHAPTER  III. 

1673-1675. 
THE  GREAT  RIVER  VOYAGE  OF  JOLIET  AND  MARQUETTE 45 

CHAPTER  IV. 

1666-1680. 
LA  SALLE  AND  HIS  EARLY  EXPLORATIONS 71 

CHAPTER  V. 

1675-1701. 
FATHER  Louis  HENNEPIN.  . .  .96 


I 


CHAPTER  VI. 

1680-1681. 


LA  SALLE  AND  TONTY 115 

CHAPTER  VII. 

1681-1683. 
LA  SALLE'S  EXPLOITS  CONTINUED 130 


viii  Contents. 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

1684-1687. 
LAST  GREAT  ENTERPRISE  OF  LA  SALLE 153 

CHAPTER  IX. 

1687-1689. 
SURVIVORS  OF  LA  SALLE'S  TEXAN  COLONY 175 

CHAPTER  X. 

1689-1712. 
ILLINOIS  AS  A  DEPENDENCY  OF  CANADA 194 

CHAPTER  XL 

,1698-1711. 
PERMANENT  SETTLEMENT  OF  LOWER  LOUISIANA 212 

CHAPTER  XII. 

1712-1717. 
LOUISIANA  UNDER  M.  CROZAT — DEMISE  OF  Louis  XIV 233 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

1717-1723. 
FRENCH  FINANCES,  AND  LAW'S  MISSISSIPPI  COMPANY 249 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

1718-1732. 

LIEUTENANT  BOISBRIANT'S  RULE  IN  THE  ILLINOIS  — THE  NATCHEZ 
WAR 270 

CHAPTER  XV. 

1732-1752.                                           § 
LOUISIANA  UNDER  THE  DIRECT  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CROWN 288 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

1742-1756. 
PROGRESS  OF  EVENTS  IN  THE  DEPENDENCY  OF  ILLINOIS 304 


Contents.  ix 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

1753-1760. 
THE  MEMORABLE  SEVEN  YEAKS'  WAR 319 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

1760-1765. 
INDIAN  CONSPIRACY  AND  WAR  OP  PONTIAC 342 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

1764-1769. 
OCCURRENCES  IN  LOWER  LOUISIANA 363 

CHAPTER  XX. 

1764-1778. 
ILLINOIS  UNDER  THE  BRITISH  DOMINATION 384 

CHAPTER  XXI. 
GENERAL  DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  FRENCH  COLONISTS  ...  . .  404 


LIJ 
^//.r* 

HISTORY 

OF 

ILLINOIS  AND  LOUISIANA  UNDER  THE  FRENCH  RULE. 


CHAPTER  I. 

1497-1690. 

INTRODUCTORY    NARRATIVE  ;    OR    DISCOVERY    AND    SETTLEMENT  OP 
CANADA. 

THE  first  Europeans  to  reach  the  shores  of  America 
were  the  Northmen,  or  Scandinavians,  who,  during  the 
early  middle  ages,  formed  settlements  in  Iceland  and 
southern  Greenland.  Those  hardy  and  daring  sea-rovers 
gradually  extended  their  voyages  westward  from  Green- 
land to  the  coasts  of  Labrador  and  Newfoundland,  and,  by 
the  beginning  of  the  eleventh  century,  appear  to  have  es- 
tablished themselves  on  the  rocky  shores  of  New  England, 
about  Massachusetts  and  Narraganset  bays. 

They  named  the  new  country  Winland,  or  Vinland, 
from  the  profusion  of  wild  grapes  found  growing  in  its 
virgin  forests.  But  the  Northmen  effected  no  large  or  du- 
rable settlements  upon  this  continent;  and  when  their 
colony  of  Vinland  was  eventually  abandoned,  or  extermin- 
ated by  the  natives,  it  was,  doubtless,  soon  forgotten.  The 
only  remaining  traces  of  their  presence  on  the  New  Eng- 
land coast  are  two  or  three  rude  monuments,*  and  a  few 
doubtful  Runic  inscriptions.  The  fact  of  their  primal  dis- 
covery of  the  continent,  however,  is  attested  by  the  Sagas, 
or  ancient  historical  records  of  Iceland. 

But  the  time  was  not  then  ripe  for  the  opening  of  the 


*  Notably,  the  old  stone  tower  at  Newport,  Rhode  Island,  which  is 
believed  to  be  a  relic  of  the  Northmen. 


2  Early  Voyages  to  North  America. 

New  World  to  European  colonization  and  civilization ;  nor 
were  the  people  of  western  Europe  sufficiently  advanced  in 
wealth,  intelligence  and  nautical  science,  to  profit  by  so  im- 
portant a  discovery. 

To  Cristoforo  Colombo  (Christopher  Columbus),  must 
ever  be  accorded  the  imperishable  honor,  of  having  made 
known  to  the  nations  of  the  Old  World  the  pathway  to  the 
Western  Hemisphere ;  yet  it  is  by  no  means  certain  that  he 
ever  touched  the  continent  of  North  America,  and  he  died 
in  ignorance  of  the  extent  and  transcendent  value  of  his 
achievement. 

But  the  true  and  lasting  discovery  of  Northern  Amer- 
ica was  made  by  Giovanni  Caboto  (John  Cabot),  a  Vene- 
tian navigator,  who  had  become  domiciled  in  the  com- 
mercial city  of  Bristol,  England,  prior  to  the  year  1493, 
and  who  afterward  voyaged  the  North  Atlantic  under 
the  patronage  of  King  Henry  VII.  It  is  a  singular 
fact,  and  worthy  of  remark  here,  that  the  maritime  powers 
of  Europe,  with  the  exception,  perhaps,  of  Portugal,  should 
have  owed  their  early  possessions  in  America  to  the  skill 
and  daring  of  Italian  navigators,  although  not  a  single 
American  colony  was  ever  established  by  the  Italians  them- 
selves. 

Within  one  or  two  years  after  the  return  of  Columbus 
to  Spain,  from  his  first  renowned  voyage  of  discovery,  the 
adventurous  spirit  of  John  Cabot  induced  him  to  propose 
to  Henry  VII.,  of  England,  to  undertake  a  similar  voyage, 
with  the  two-fold  object  of  discovering  new  lands,  and  of 
finding  a  northwest  passage  to  the  Indias.  The  proposal 
of  the  Venetian  was  received  with  favor  and  encourage- 
ment by  that  cautious,  yet  sagacious  monarch.  And  on 
the  fifth  of  March,  1496,  he  issued  a  commission  to  Cabot 
and  his  three  sons  (Louis,  Sebastian  and  Sanchez),  author- 
izing them  to  "  sail  to  all  parts  of  the  east,  west,  and  north, 
to  discover  countries  of  the  Heathen,  unknown  to 
Christians ;  to  set  up  the  king's  ensigns  there ;  to  occupy 
and  possess,  as  his  subjects,  such  places  as  they  could  sub- 
due, giving  them  the  rule  and  jurisdiction — to  be  holden, 
on  paying  to  the  king,  one-fifth  part  of  their  gains." 


Early  Voyages  to  North  America.  3 

Under  this  broad  commission  three  ships  were  at  length 
equipped  for  the  enterprise — partly  at  the  expense  of  hie 
majesty,  and  the  remainder  by  private  persons.  With 
these  vessels,'  manned  by  some  three  hundred  seamen,  the 
elder  Cabot,  and  his  son  Sebastian,  sailed  from  Bristol, 
in  May,  1497.  Taking  a  westerly  course  over  the  track- 
less ocean,  the  bold  commander,  on  the  24th  of  June, 
sighted  a  shore  which  he  named  Terra  Primum  Visa  (land 
first  seen),  and  which  is  supposed  to  have  been  some  part 
of  Newfoundland.  He  thence  steered  northward,  parallel 
with  the  coast  of  Labrador,  as  far  as  to  the  entrance  of 
Hudson's  strait,  when  he  was  obliged  to  turn  back  on  ac- 
count of  the  ice  and  the  increasing  discontent  of  his  crew. 
After  discovering  many  islands  and  coasting  the  mainland 
southward  to  the  vicinity  of  Cape  Hatteras,  a  mutiny  is 
said  to  have  broken  out  among  his  sailors,  in  consequence 
of  which  he  returned  to  England.  During  the  ensuing 
year  (1498),  Sebastian  Cabot  was  sent  out  with  two  ships, 
on  a  second  voyage  of  discovery.  He  again  visited  New- 
foundland, and  other  points  on  the  eastern  coast  of  North 
America,  but  did  not  attempt  any  conquest  or  settlement 
of  the  country.  No  authentic  journal  of  these  two  voya- 
ges was  ever  published,  nor  were  they  soon  followed  up  by 
other  like  enterprises  on  the  part  of  the  English  govern- 
ment or  people.  Yet,  it,  was  upon  the  discoveries  of  the 
Cabots,  and  the  subsequent  attempts  at  colonization  under 
the  auspices  of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  (1584-1587),  that  Eng- 
land based  her  title  to  the  principal  part  of  the  immense 
territory  which  she  afterward  acquired  in  North  America. 

The  Portuguese  were  the  next  to  engage  in  this  inviting 
maritime  enterprise.  In  1500,  one  Gaspar  de  Cortereal  sailed 
from  Lisbon  with  two  well-manned  caravels.  He  visited  Lab- 
rador, ranged  along  its  inhospitable  coast  for  six  hundred 
miles,  and  entered  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence.  Returning 
the  same  year  to  Portugal,  he  set  sail  on  a  second  voyage 
of  discovery  in  May,  1501,  but  was  never  again  heard  of. 
His  brother  Michael  sailed  .with  two  ships  in  search  of  him, 
but  he  also  failed  to  return.  It  is  conjectured  that  both 
they  and  their  unfortunate  crews  fell  victims  to  the  savage 


4  Early  Voyages  to  North  America. 

vengeance  of  the  natives  of  Labrador,  some  of  whom  had 
been  seized  and  carried  off  as  slaves  by  Gaspar  de  Cortereal, 
in  his  first  voyage.  Upon  the  strength  of  these  northwest- 
ern voyages,  however,  the  Portuguese  set  up  a'  claim  to  the 
discovery  of  the  whole  continent. 

The  business  of  oceanic  discovery  in  this  part  of  the 
New  World,  was  afterward  taken  up  by  the  French  gov- 
ernment. During  the  active  reign  of  Francis  I.,  an  expe- 
dition was  fitted  out,  the  command  of  which  was  given  to 
Juan  Verrazano,  or  Verrazani,  a  Florentine  navigator  of 
great  skill,  who  had  signalized  himself  by  his  successful 
cruises  against  the  Spaniards.  He  sailed  from  France  in 
January,  1524,  with  four  vessels,  but  three  of  them  be- 
coming disabled  in  a  storm,  he  completed  the  voyage  in  a 
single  ship.  After  touching  at  the  Maderia  Islands,  he 
held  a  due  westerly  course,  and  encountered  heavy  seas, 
but  at  length  sighted  land  on  the  7th  of  March,  in  the  lati- 
tude of  North  Carolina.  Finding  no  secure  harbor,  he 
anchored  in  the  open  sea,  and  sent  his  boats  ashore  to 
open  traffic  with  the  natives.  He  next  sailed  southward 
some  distance,  and  then  turned  his  course  to  the  north,  ex- 
ploring the  eastern  coast  of  the  continent  for  six  hundred 
.  leagues,  and  naming  it  New  France,  in  compliment  to  his 
royal  patron.  When  he  reached  the  fog-laden  banks  of 
Newfoundland,  his  provisions  began  to  fail,  and  he  bore 
away  for  home,  whither  he  arrived  late  in  July,  1524.  Of 
the  subsequent  career  of  Verrazano,  but  little  is  known. 

It  was  not  until  the  lapse  of  ten  years  that  the  French 
renewed  these  hazardous  enterprises;  when  Jacques  Car- 
tier,  or  Quartier,  a  bold  and  experienced  mariner  of  St. 
Malo,  in  Brittany,  having  proposed  another  expedition, 
was  supplied  by  the  vice-admiral  of  the  king  with  two 
ships  and  one  hundred  and  twenty  seamen.  Cartier  put  to 
sea  from  the  port  of  St.  Malo,  on  the  20th  of  April,  1534, 
and  after  four  weeks  of  successful  navigation  reached  the 
eastern  shore  of  Newfoundland,  which,  though  visited  by 
fishermen,  was  still  for  the  most  part  a  terra  incognita.  He 
sailed  nearly  all  round  that  great  island,  coasted  the  main- 
land for  a  long  distance,  discovered  and  named  the  Golfe 


Cartier's  Voyages  and  Discoveries.  5 

de  St.  Lorent,  or  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence,  and  entered  the 
Bay  of  Chaleurs.  But  by  this  time  the  season  was  well 
advanced,  and  our  navigator  returned  with  his  ships  to 
France,  without  having  ascended  the  St.  Lawrence  River, 
or  even  knowing  that  it  was  a  river.  He  opened  trade  re- 
lations with  the  natives  of  the  country,  and  carried  home 
with  him  two  young  Indians,  who  afterward  served  a  use- 
ful purpose  as  interpreters. 

The  degree  of  success  that  attended  this  initial  voyage 
encouraged  the  French  monarch  to  further  effort  in  the 
field  of  trans- Atlantic  discovery.  Three  ships  were  now 
fitted  out  for  a  second  expedition,  which  was  joined  by  some 
of  the  young  nobility,  and  Cartier  was  given  the  command 
thereof,  with  the  designation  of  "  captain  and  pilot  to  the 
king."  On  the  19th  of  May,  1535,  after  a  solemn  mass  at 
the  cathedral  in  St.  Malo,  the  three  vessels  put  to  sea,  but 
were  soon  separated  by  a  tempest.  After  a  boisterous  and 
tedious  passage  they  all  arrived  safely  in  the  Strait  of  Belle 
Isle,  to  the  north  of  Newfoundland,  in  the  last  week  of  July. 
From  this  point  of  rendezvous  the  captain  took  a  south- 
westerly course,  and,  having  navigated  the  channel  between 
the  south  coast  of  Labrador  and  the  large  island  of  Anti- 
costi,  sailed  slowly  up  that  long  and  broad  estuary,  afterward 
named  St.  Lawrence.  By  the  1st  of  September  he  reached 
the  mouth  of  the  Chicoutimi,  or  Saguenay,  coming  in  from 
the  northwest ;  and  on  the  14th,  after  passing  several  low 
islands,  including  that  of  Orleans,  dropped  anchor  near  the 
entrance  of  a  small  river  on  his  right,  to  which  he  gave  the 
name  of  St.  Croix,  now  St.  Charles. 

This  was  immediately  below  that  bold  and  striking 
promontory  which  rises  in  the  angle  formed  by  the  conflu- 
ence of  the  two  rivers,  and  which  the  natives  of  the  country 
called  Quelibec  (Quebec),  from  the  sudden  contraction  of 
the  St.  Lawrence  at  that  point.  While  anchored  in  the  river 
opposite  the  present  village  of  Beauport,  Cartier  was  visited 
on  shipboard  by  one  Donnacona,  a  neighboring  Indian  po- 
tentate, who  resided  at  the  village  of  Stadacona,  on  the 
peninsula  of  that  name,  and  who  came  with  a  numerous 


6  Discovery  and  Settlement  of  Canada. 

retinue  of  his  braves  in  pirogues.*  The  French  captain  re- 
ceived his  copper-colored  visitors  with  due  formality,  and 
held  converse  with  them  through  the  two  interpreters  from 
the  coast  of  G-aspe,  whom  he  had  taken  with  him  to  France 
in  his  voyage  of  the  year  before. 

Having  moored  his  two  larger  vessels  inside  the  mouth 
of  the  St.  Croix,  our  brave  and  determined  mariner,  contrary 
to  the  entreaty  of  Donnacona  not  to  go  further,  continued 
his  voyage  in  the  third  vessel  up  the  St.  Lawrence.  Ar- 
rived in  that  expansion  of  the  river  since  known  as  Lake 
St.  Peter,  and  finding  the  further  advance  of  his  ship  im- 
peded by  obstructions  in  the  channel,  he  quit  it  and  pro- 
ceeded in  a  boat,  rowed  by  three  of  his  men.  On  the  2d 
of  October  he  reached  the  Indian  village  of  Hochelaga,  f 
situate  on  the  island  of  that  name,  which  he  denominated 
Mont.  Royal  (Montreal),  from  the  insulated  mountain  that 
rises  from  the  plain  two  miles  behind  it.  After  spending 
a  few  days  at  Hochelaga,  and  opening  an  amicable  inter- 
course with  the  inhabitants  of  the  place,  Cartier  returned  to 
his  ship,  and  descending  the  river  rejoined  his  other  ships 
at  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Croix.  Here,  at  the  foot  of  the  rug- 
ged promontory  of  Quebec,  his  sailors  had  already  begun 
the  erection  of  a  temporary  wooden  structure,  which  was 
soon  finished,  and  in  which  they  passed  the  ensuing  winter 
months,  suffering  greatly,  not  only  from  the  rigor  of  the 
climate,  but  from  the  ravages  of  the  scurvy.  Twenty-five 
men  died  before  the  opening  of  spring,  and  out  of  one  hun- 
dred and  ten  then  remaining  very  few  were  free  from  that 
disease.! 

Before  sailing  on  his  return  to  France,  Cartier,  accord- 
ing to  the  custom  of  navigators  in  that  age,  took  possession 
of  the  country  of  the  St.  Lawrence  in  the  name  of  his  sove- 


*  Pirogue  (Sp.  Piragua),  originally  an  Indian  word,  signifying  a  dug- 
out canoe. 

t  This  was  also  the  original  Indian  name  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  and 
the  French  sometimes  spoke  of  it  as  the  Grand  fleuve  de  Hochelaga. 

%  Upon  the  site  of  the  temporary  structure  occupied  by  Cartier  and 
his  men  was  long  afterward  built  the  church  of  Notre  Dame  des  Victoires, 
which  fronts  the  market  place  in  the  Lower  Town  of  Quebec. 


Cartier' s  Voyages  and  Discoveries.  7 

reign,  by  erecting  a  high  wooden  cross  bearing  the  arms 
of  France,  with  this  Latin  inscription,  Franciscus  primus, 
Dei  gratia  Francorum  rex,  regna.  Leaving  one  of  his  ships 
that  had  been  shattered  by  the  ice  in  the  little  harbor  of 
the  St.  Croix,  he  sailed  for  home  with  the  other  two  on  the 
6th  of  May,  1536,  and  arrived  at  St.  Malo  on  the  16th  of 
July.  During  the  preceding  winter  Carder's  friendship 
with  Donnacona  had  become  strained,  and  on  his  departure 
he  took  with  him  that  chief  and  several  of  his  braves,  whose 
persons  he  had  seized  partly  by  force  and  partly  by  strata- 
gem, and  who  subsequently  died  in  captivity  in  France. 

Some  five  years  later,  a  scheme  of  regular  colonization 
was  devised  by  the  French  government,  in  which  Cartier  was 
associated  with  Jean  Francois  de  la  Roque,  Sieur  de  Roberval, 
who  had  been  commissioned  by  the  crown  lieutenant-general 
and  viceroy  of  his  American  possessions.  Accordingly,  on 
May  1,  1541,  Captain  Cartier  sailed  with  five  ships  on  his 
third  voyage  to  America,  and  arrived  at  his  former  winter 
quarters  on  the  St.  Lawrence  early  in  August.  Sending  two 
of  his  ships  home,  he  proceeded  with  the  rest  to  search  the 
neighboring  shores  for  a  better  haven  than  that  of  the  St. 
Croix,  and  found  one  to  his  liking  nine  miles  above  it,  at 
the  mouth  of  Cape  Rouge  River.  Here  he  landed  and  built 
a  fort  which  he  named  Charlesbourg  Royal,  and  waited  the 
coming  of  his  coadjutor  with  colonists  to  begin  a  settlement. 
In  the  meantime  he  again  ascended  the  St.  Lawrence  to 
Hochelaga,  and  examined  the  nature  of  the  obstructions  to 
navigation  in  the  river  above  that  place.  Owing  to  the 
long  delay  in  the  arrival  of  Roberval,  and  to  his  impatience 
and  jealousy  of  that  officer,  who  outranked  him,  Cartier  at 
length  relinquished  the  attempt  to  make  a  settlement,  and 
set  sail  on  his  return  to  France  in  May,  1542.  Meeting 
with  Roberval's  ships  at  the  harbor  of  Newfoundland,  he 
avoided  their  commander  and  held  on  his  homeward  course. 
But,  according  to  Lescarbot's  history,  he  was  sent  back  to 
Canada  *  in  the  autumn  of  that  year,  by  King  Henry  II.,  to 

*  The  name  of  Canada  is  believed  to  have  been  derived  from  the 
Huron  word  Kan-na-ta,  meaning  a  collection  of  wigwams.  According 
to  Cartier,  it  is  an  Indian  word,  signifying  town.  For  he  wrote :  "  TVs 


8  Discovery  and  Settlement  of  Canada. 

bring  home  Roberval  and  his  colony.  They  appear  to  have 
wintered  together  on  the  banks  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  and 
finally  quitted  it  in  June,  1543. 

Captain  Cartier's  services  as  a  navigator  and  discoverer 
were  recompensed  by  a  patent  of  nobility,  and  also  by  a 
seignorial  mansion  at  the  village  of  Limoilou,  near  St.  Malo. 
The  latter  years  of  his  stirring  life  were  mostly  passed 
at  his  seat  of  Limoilou,  where  he  died  childless  about  anno 
1555,  aged  sixty.  The  printed  journals  of  his  American 
voyages  are  preserved  by  the  Quebec  Historical  Society, 
but  whether  originally  written  by  himself  or  not  is  unde- 
termined. It  is  said  that  he  advised  the  first  French  col- 
onists in  Canada  to  cultivate  the  good  will  of  the  natives 
by  every  means  in  their  power,  and  even  to  form  matri- 
monial alliances  with  them,  in  order  to  advance  their  mate- 
rial interests.  It  is  evident  that  this  last  advice  was  subse- 
quently adopted,  though  with  ephemeral  rather  than  per- 
manent advantage. 

The  discoveries  made  by  Cartier  and  his  associate  mar- 
iners turned  the  attention  of  France  to  the  extensive  Valley 
of  the  St.  Lawrence  and  its  capabilities,  and  established  her 
claim  to  the  country  according  to  that  peculiar  international 
code  by  which  the  maritime  powers  of  Europe  were  wont 
to  apportion  among  themselves  the  territories  of  the  West- 
ern World. 

Although  Canada  exhibited  scarcely  any  of  that  smiling 
and  luxuriant  aspect  pertaining  to  the  middle  and  southern 
sections  of  the  continent,  it  opened  into  regions  of  indefinite 
extent,  and  the  tracing  of  its  vast  chain  of  fresh-water  seas 
to  their  distant  fountains  presented  more  than  ordinary  at- 
tractions to  human  curiosity  and  adventure.  But  for  the 
next  sixty  years,  owing  to  internal  dissensions  and  factional 
and  religious  wars,  French  colonization  in  America  was  vir- 
tually abandoned. 

It  is  true  that  in  the  years  1562  and  1564,  Admiral  Co- 


appellant  une  mile  Canada."  Another  early  French  authority  makes 
the  word  mean  terre,  or  land.  The  name  seems  to  have  been  primarily 
applied  only  to  the  Valley  of  the  St.  Lawrence. 


The  Huguenots  in  Florida.  9 

ligny  undertook  to  plant  some  Huguenot  colonies  in  East 
Florida ;  but  the  two  expeditions  sent  thither  under  the 
separate  leadership  of  Jean  Eibaut  and  Rene  Laudoniere 
ended  in  utter  failure.  After  suffering  deeply  from  ship- 
wreck and  sickness,  their  settlements  at  Port  Royal  and 
near  the  mouth  of  the  St.  John's  River  were  attacked  and 
destroyed  by  the  Spaniards  under  the  stern  Don  Pedro  de 
Menendez.*  Ribault  and  his  followers  were  massacred, 
after  a  pledge  of  safety  had  been  given  them,  and  their 
bodies  were  treated  with  the  most  shocking  indignities — 
"  not,"  it  was  averred,  "  because  they  were  Frenchmen, 
but  because  they  were  heretics  and  enemies  of  God."  Two 
years  later  (1567),  this  barbarous  massacre  was  fully  avenged 
by  a  Huguenot  soldier  named  Dominique  de  Gourgues,  who 
sailed  from  Bordeaux  with  one  hundred  and  fifty  armed 
men  for  that  purpose.  Aided  by  some  Florida  Indians,  he 
took  and  demolished  the  little  Spanish  forts  on  the  river 
St.  Johns,  and  hanged  all  of  his  prisoners,  not  because  they 
were  Spaniards,  but  that  they  were  "  traitors,  robbers,  and 
murderers."  After  accomplishing  this  deed  of  savage  re- 
taliation, De  Gourgues  made  no  effort  to  retain  his  conquest? 
or  to  revive  the  French  colony,  but  having  secured  all  that 
was  of  value  at  the  forts,  he  re-embarked  his  troops  and  sailed 
back  to  France.  If  the  efforts  of  the  French  Protestants 
to  form  settlements  in  East  Florida  had  been  countenanced 
and  sustained  by  the  crown,  it  is  believed  that  France  might 
have  had  a  flourishing  colony  there  long  before  England 
effected  a  single  permanent  settlement  in  America. 

We  come  now  to  describe  the  first  successful  attempts 
of  the  French  to  form  durable  settlements  in  the  cold  and 
inclement  districts  of  New  France.  The  most  conspicuous 
figure  of  his  day  in  these  arduous  and  uncertain  enterprises 
was  Samuel  de  Champlain.  Born  at  Brouage,  in  the  prov- 
ince of  Saintonge,  about  the  year  1567,  he  belonged  to  a 
noted  family  of  mariners.  His  father  was  a  sea  captain, 
and  he  himself  was  early  schooled  in  the  art  and  practice 
of  navigation.  After  spending  several  years  in  the  military 


*  Who  founded  St.  Augustine,  Fla.,  in  1565. 


10  Discovery  and  Settlement  of  Canada. 

service  of  his  country,  he  went  with  an  uncle,  who  held  a 
high  post  in  the  Spanish  navy,  on  a  long  voyage  to  Mexico. 
Returning  to  France  in  1601,  he  was  urged  hy  De  Chastes, 
Governor  of  Dieppe,  to  explore  and  prepare  to  found  a 
colony  in  the  French  possessions  of  North  America,  the 
governor  having  received  a  concession  from  the  king  for 
that  purpose.  This  was  an  undertaking  well  suited  to  the 
enterprising  genius  of  Champlain,  and  he  accordingly  em- 
barked at  Honfleur on  March  15, 1603,  in  a  ship  commanded 
by.  Captain  Pontgrave,  an  experienced  mariner  of  St. 
Malo. 

On  the  24th  of  May,  after  a  rough  and  protracted  pas- 
sage, they  dropped  anchor  at  Tadousac,  where  the  deep  and 
dark  waters  of  the  Saguenay  enter  the  estuary  of  the  St. 
Lawrence.  Leaving  their  large  ship  here,  Pontgrave  and 
Champlain,  with  five  seamen,  continued  their  voyage  in  a 
shallop  up  the  St.  Lawrence  to  the  rapids,  above  Hochelaga. 
As  they  slowly  retraced  their  course,  Champlain  examined 
and  noted  the  rocky  and  wooded  shores  on  both  sides  of 
the  river  down  to  Tadousac.  He  then, drew  up  a  map  of 
the  country,  collected  information  about  Acadia  *  (after- 
ward called  by  the  British  Nova  Scotia),  and  in  the  follow- 
ing autumn  returned  to  France,  where  he  immediately  pub- 
lished a  narrative  of  his  voyage  and  observations,  entitled 
Des  Sauvages. 

His  patron,  De  Chastes,  had  meantime  deceased,  and 
the  exclusive  privileges  that  had  been  granted  to  him  by 
Henry  IV.  were  transferred  to  Pierre  du  Guast,  Sieur  de 
Monts,  a  gentleman  of  -Saintonge,  and  an  officer  of  the 
king's  household.  Letters-patent  were  issued  to  the  latter 
in  November,  1603,  nominating  him  vice-admiral  and  lieu- 
tenant-general of  his  majesty  in  the  country  of  La  Cadie 
(Acadia),  with  full  and  exclusive  power  to  trade  in  peltries, 
and  to  make  war  and  peace  with  the  natives,  from  tLe  40th 
to  the  46th  parallel  of  north  latitude ;  also  to  make  grants 
of  land  to  French  settlers.  His  patent  embraced  the  whole 


*This  old  poetic  name,  written  Acadie  in  French,  appears  to  be  an 
abbreviation  of  the  Indian  name  for  one  of  the  rivers  of  that  country. 


French  Settlement  of  Acadia.  11 

coast  of  New  England,  no  part  of  which  had  as  yet  been 
occupied  by  the  English.  The  Sieur  de  Monts  was  a  Cal- 
vinist,  and  had  stipulated  for  the  free  exercise  of  his  own 
form  of  religion,  but  this  was  inconsistently  enough  coupled 
with  an  agreement  that  the  Indians  of  the  country  should 
be  instructed  in  the  mysteries  of  pure  Catholicism.  Having 
resolved  to  plant  an  extensive  colony  in  his  new  domain, 
De  Monts  now  engaged  the  active  assistance  of  Champlain 
in  his  enterprise.  They  at  once  proceeded  to  hire  and  equip 
a  number  of  vessels,  large  and  small,  with  which  they  set 
sail  from  Havre  de  Grace  on  the  7th  of  April,  1604,  carry- 
ing numerous  colonists,  traders,  and  stores.  The  commander 
arrived  with  a  part  of  his  fleet  off  Sable  Island  in  the  first 
week  of  May,  and  thence  stood  along  the  south  and  western 
shores  of  Acadia  for  several  weeks,  being  undecided  where 
to  make  a  permanent  landing.  At  length,  after  exploring 
the  Bay  of  Fundy,  he  determined  to  begin  a  settlement  on 
the  Island  of  Saiute  Croix,  in  1he  estuary  of  that  name, 
lying  between  the  present  Maine  and  New  Brunswick.  But 
this  location  proved  unfavorable  from  the  lack  of  building 
timber  and  fresh  water,  and  during  the  next  summer  the 
colony  was  removed  across  the  bay  to  a  place  called  Port 
Royal,  now  Annapolis.  When  this  transfer  had  been  ef- 
fected, De  Monts  found  it  necessary  to  return  to  France, 
leaving  Pontgrave  in  charge  of  the  new  settlement.  The 
cold,  damp,  and  sterile  peninsula  of  Acadia,  or  Nova  ScotiU, 
fulfilled  none  of  those  hopes  of  speedy  wealth  that  had  al- 
lured the  French  colonists  hither.  It  yielded  with  difficulty 
the  common  necessaries  of  life,  and  the  fur-trade  was  too 
limited  to  be  profitable.  Its  mineral  resources  long  re- 
mained unknown. 

In  the  meantime  Champlain  diligently  explored  the 
rock-bound  coast  to  the  southward,  as  far  as  the  sandy  beach 
of  Cape  Cod,  making  surveys  and  charts  of  the  same,  and  in 
1607,  re-embarked  for  France.  His  patron,  De  Monts,  was 
accused  of  abusing  his  ample  commission  by  capturing  and 
confiscating  all  vessels  that  approached  the  American  coast 
within  the  bounds  of  his  territorial  jurisdiction,  and  of  in- 
terfering with  the  rights  and  endangering  the  safety  of  the 


12  Discovery  and  Settlement  of  Canada. 

cod  fishermen  on  the  shores  of  Newfoundland.*  Never- 
theless, he  had  sufficient  influence  at  court  to  get  his  privi- 
leges renewed  for  a  time,  on  condition  that  his  company 
should  form  an  establishment  on  the  river  St.  Lawrence. 
As  now  reorganized,  the  company  was  composed  principally 
of  merchants,  who  had  only  the  fur  trade  in  view,  and  this 
led  to  a  change  in  their  plans  and  to  the  gradual  abandon- 
ment of  Acadia  as  the  seat  of  their  operations. 

In  pursuance  of  this  change  of  policy,  the  company 
caused  to  be  fitted  out  two  ships  at  Honfleur,  and  confided 
them  to  the  charge  of  Messieurs  Champlain  and  Font- 
grave,  with  instructions  to  proceed  to  the  St.  Lawrence, 
and  there  establish  a  trading  post.  They  accordingly 
sailed  in  the  spring  of  1608,  taking  out  with  them  a  suffi- 
cient number  of  soldiers,  traders  and  adventurers  to  form  a 
settlement.  Arriving  in  the  Lower  St.  Lawrence,  about 
the  middle  of  June,  they  first  touched  at  Tadousac,  and 
thence  continued  their  course  up  the  river.  Having  fixed 
upon  Quebecf  as  the  most  eligible  site  for  the  projected  es- 
tablishment, Champlain  landed  his  company  of  advent- 
urers there  on  July  3,  1608.  This  was  one  year  after  the 
settlement  of  Jamestown,  Va.,  by  the  English,  and  twelve 
years  before  the  landing  of  the  Pilgrims  on  Plymouth 
Rock.  The  spot  thus  chosen  was  on  the  north  side  of  the 
St.  Lawrence  River,  just  above  its  junction  with  the  St. 
Charles,  and  about  one  hundred  and  twenty  leagues  from 
the  sea.  No  sooner  had  the  commander  begun  to  clear  the 
ground  for  a  settlement  here,  than  he  discovered  a  plot 
among  five  of  the  men  to  take  his  life ;  but  this  was  hap- 


*  As  early  as  the  year  1504,  the  fishermen  of  Brittany  and  Nor- 
mandy began  to  ply  their  vocation  on  the  banks  of  Newfoundland,  and 
in  1517,  upward  of  fifty  vessels  of  different  nations  are  said  to  have  been 
employed  in  it. 

t "  The  Indians  of  the  country  gave  to  this  place  the  name  of  Quebio 
or  Quelibec,  which,  in  Algonquin  and  Abenaqui,  means  narrowing,  be- 
cause the  river  St.  Lawrence  here  narrows  till  it  is  only  a  mile  wide ; 
whereas,  just  below  the  Isle  de  Orleans,  it  still  maintains  a  breadth  of 
four  or  five  leagues."— Charlevoix'  Historie  da  la  Nouvelle  France.  En- 
glish translation,  edited  by  John  Gilmary  Shea  (New  York,  1866-1872), 
vol.  I.,  p.  50. 


Quebec  Founded  by  Champlain.  13 

pily  frustrated  by  his  vigilance,,  and  the  conspirators  were 
dealt  with  by  martial  law. 

Mechanics  and  laborers  were  now  put  to  work,  and  in 
the  course  of  a  few  weeks  a  cluster  of  wooden  buildings 
arose  on  the  shelving  bank  of  the  river,  under  the  shadow 
of  that  lofty  precipice,  since  known  as  Cape  Diamond, 
which  towered  above  them.  These  rude  edifices  were  sur- 
rounded by  a  stout  palisade  or  wall,  pierced  by  apertures 
for  small  cannon,  and  were  thenceforth  occupied  as  the 
headquarters  of  Champlain  and  his  semi-military  colony. 
Such  was  the  inconsiderable  beginning  of  the  historical 
city  and  fortress  of  Quebec.  Having  thus  provided  a  se- 
cure place  for  his  men  and  munitions,  the  resolute  leader 
pushed  out  into  the  circumjacent  country,  with  a  view  to 
making  it  tributary  to  the  French  power.  It  was  from 
about  this  time  that  Canada  and  Acadia  began  to  be  offi- 
cially designated  as  Nouvelle  France,  though  this  ambitious 
appellation  had  been  long  before  applied  to  the  coast  of  the 
country  by  the  navigator  Verrazano. 

In  order  to  secure  the  friendship  and  support  of  the 
neighboring  Montagnais  and  Algonquin  Indians,*  in  fur- 
therance of  his  designs  of  interior  exploration  and  inter- 
course, Champlain  now  undertook,  with  dubious  propriety, 
to  aid  them  in  their  ceaseless  warfare  with  the  Iroquois,  or 
Five  Nations,f  who  inhabited  the  region  lying  mostly  within 
the  limits  of  the  present  State  of  New  York.  Victory,  of 
course,  attended  his  superior  arms  in  the  first  encounters 
with  them,  but  it  intensified  the  hatred  of  those  proud  and 
fierce  warriors  for  the  Indian  allies  of  Champlain;  it  led  to 
an  alliance  of  the  Iroquois  with  the  Dutch  settlers,  and  af- 
terward with  the  English,  and  long  prevented  the  French 
from  advancing  southward  into  the  beautiful  and  fertile 
Valley  of  the  Ohio.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  doubtful  if  the 


*  The  Algonquins,  proper,  dwelt  on  the  Ottawa  river,  and  hence 
were  called  Ottawas  by  the  French ;  but  they  gave  name  to  the  entire 
family  of  kindred  tribes  (about  thirty-eight  in  all),  known  as  Algonquins. 

tThe  use  of  the  word  nation,  as  applied  to  a  single  Indian  tribe, 
though  sanctioned  by  the  usage  of  the  best  writers,  is,  nevertheless, 
a  misnomer. 


14  Discovery  and  Settlement  of  Canada. 

first  French  colonist  could  have  maintained,  for  any  con- 
siderable time,  an  attitude  of  strict  neutrality  between 
those  ever-warring  Indian  nations  ;  so  that  the  policy  they 
adopted  may  have  been  the  only  feasible  one  open  to  them. 

In  the  early  summer  of  1609,  Champlain,  with  a  few 
armed  men,  joined  a  hunting  and  war  party  of  their  Mon- 
tagnais  allies  on  an  excursion  into  the  territory  of  the 
Iroquois.  Ascending  the  broad  St.  Lawrence  to  the  mouth 
of  the  Richelieu,  or  Sorel  River,  and  pushing  up  the  latter 
to  its  source,  he  discovered  and  partially  explored  that 
beautiful  lake  which  still  bears  his  name.  On  its  sylvan 
shores  he  found  game  exceedingly  abundant,  and  particu- 
larly the  fur-bearing  beaver.  While  exploring  the  south 
part  of  the  lake,  our  French  and  Indian  party  fell  in  with 
a  band  of  Mohawk  warriors,  when  a  sharp  fight  ensued,  in 
which  several  of  the  latter  were  slain  and  others  taken 
prisoners.  Champlain  had  now  to  witness  an  exhibition 
of  that  protracted  and  cruel  torture  to  which  the  savages 
often  subjected  their  male  captives,  which  filled  him  with 
such  horror  that  he  obtained  permission  of  his  allies  to 
shoot  the  poor  creature  dead  with  his  arquebuse,  and  thus 
ended  his  anguish. 

Leaving  Pierre  Chauvin  in  command  at  Quebec,  Cham- 
plain  returned  with  Captain  Pontgrave  to  France  in  Sep- 
tember, 1609 ;  but  he  came  back  the  next  spring,  bringing 
fresh  supplies,  and  a  number  of  artisans  for  his  embryo 
colony.  In  the  autumn  of  this  year  (1610),  the  Montagnais 
again  called  on  the  French  for  military  assistance  against 
their  enemies,  which  Champlain  gave  in  order  to  secure 
the  co-operation  of  the  former  in  his  own  interior  explora- 
tions. Moving  with  his  Indian  allies  up  the  St.  Lawrence 
and  the  river  Sorel,  he  assaulted  and  captured  a  stronghold 
of  the  Iroquois,  but  received  a  severe  wound  in  the  action. 
If  the  French  at  this  epoch  could  have  forecast  the  future 
of  their  Canadian  colony,  they  would  no  doubt  have  occu- 
pied the  Iroquois  country  in  force,  and  seized  control  of 
the  Hudson  River,  so  as  to  exclude  the  Dutch,  and  secure 
another  and  shorter  outlet  to  the  ocean.  Such  a  course 


Advent  of  the  Recollects.  15 

was  recommended  by  M.  Talon  at  a  subsequent  period,  but 
it  was  then  too  late. 

In  August,  1611,  Champlain  again  crossed  the  Atlantic 
to  France,  where  he  shortly  married  a  girl  named  Helene 
Boulle,  who  was  only  twelve  years  old,  and  who  was  called 
his  "  child  wife."  She  had  been  reared  a  Protestant,  but 
became  a  Catholic  after  her  marriage.  On  the  assassina- 
tion of  Henry  IV.,  in  1610,  De  Monts  lost  his  influence  at 
court,  and  the  merchants  of  his  company  having  become 
tired  of  the  continual  expense  of  the  Canadian  coloniza- 
tion scheme,  it  was  about  to  be  abandoned.  At  this  junc- 
ture, Champlain  induced  the  Count  de  Soissons  to  take 
hold  of  the  matter ;  and  on  the  8th  of  October,  1612,  that 
nobleman  was  commissioned  governor  and  lieutenant-gen- 
eral of  New  France.  Champlain  was  now  appointed  lieu- 
tenant under  him,  and  continued  to  act  in  this  capacity 
until  after  the  rights  of  De  Soissons  had  been  transferred 
to  the  Prince  de  Conde.  Returning  to  Quebec  in  the 
spring  of  1613,  Champlain  undertook  to  explore  the  Ot- 
tawa River,  but  did  not  proceed  very  far  at  this  time.  In 
the  autumn  of  that  year  he  sailed  to  Old  France,  and 
organized  a  trading  company  for  Canada. 

In  1615  he  brought  over  four  Recollects,  or  Recollets  * 
(three  priests  and  a  lay  brother),  to  attend  to  the  spiritual 
needs  of  his  colony.  They  embarked  at  Honfleur,  and 
arrived  in  Quebec  the  25th  of  May.  The  names  of  these 
first  missionaries  were,  Fathers  Denis  Jamet,  Jean  d'Olbeau 
and  Joseph  le  Caron,  and  Brother  Pacificus  de  Plessis.  It 
was  with  mingled  curiosity  and  astonishment  that  the 
natives  of  the  St.  Lawrence  Valley  first  beheld  these  gray 
friars,  with  their  shaven  crowns,  sandaled  feet,  and  long 
cassocks  of  coarse  woolen  cloth.  Their  first  care,  on  ar- 
rival, was  to  select  a  site  and  begin  the  erection  of  a  con- 
vent or  religious  house  for  their  use.  The  paramount 
object  of  these  monks  was  the  conversion  of  the  pagan 
Indians  to  Christianity;  and,  undismayed  by  the  many 

*The  Recollects  were  a  reformed   branch  of  the  old  Franciscan 
order  of  friars. 


16  Discovery  and  Settlement  of  Canada. 

obstacles  and  perils  that  confronted  them,  they  met  in 
council  and  assigned  to  each  his  province  in  the  wide  field 
of  their  proposed  labors.  By  patient  and  persevering 
effort,  they  established  missions  at  various  points  among 
the  Montagnais  and  Hurons  in  Canada,  but  at  length,  find- 
ing the  task  too  great  for  their  limited  numbers  and  re- 
sources, they  applied  to  the  Jesuits  for  assistance. 

In  1616  Champlain  accompanied  his  Indian  allies  in 
another  expedition  against  the  Iroquois,  and  afterward  ex- 
plored the  river  and  valley  of  the  Ottawa.  Journeying 
thence  westward,  he  appears  to  have  discovered  Lake 
Nipissing,  and  the  Georgian  Bay  of  Lake  Huron,  sleeping 
in  their  primeval  solitudes,  and  engirt  with  dense  forests 
of  pine  and  cedar.  By  these  different  expeditions,  our 
veteran  explorer  was  enabled  to  form  a  more  accurate  idea 
of  the  geography  of  the  Canadian  country;  inclosed  by 
great  lakes  and  rivers,  and  opening  into  vast  interior  re- 
gions, it  seemed  to  him  to  afford  unlimited  scope  for  both 
commerce  and  settlement. 

As  early  as  1611,  the  Jesuits,  not  without  opposition 
and  delay,  had  started  a  mission  at  Port  Royal,  in  Acadia,* 
and  when  they  received  an  invitation  to  enter  Canada,  they 
eagerly  accepted  it.  But,  owing  to  the  prejudice  existing 
against  their  order  in  the  colony,  it  was  not  until  1625  that 
they  gained  a  foothold  on  the  banks  of  the  St.  Lawrence. 
During  that  year  Fathers  Charles  Lalemant,  Enemond, 
Masse,  and  Jean  de  Brebeuf,  with  two  lay  brothers,  reached 
Quebec,  where  they  were  at  first  ill-received  by  the  inhab- 
itants, but  were  generously  lodged  in  the  house  of  the  Re- 
collets,  on  St.  Charles  River.  In  the  following  year  (1626), 
three  other  Jesuits,  to  wit,  Fathers  Philibert,  Noirot,  and 
Ame  de  la  Noue,  with  a  lay  brother,  arrived  at  Quebec,  and 
brought  out  with  them  several  mechanics  and  laborers.f 


*It  was  on  the  22d  of  May,  1611,  that  Pierre  Biard  and  Eneinond 
Masse,  two  Jesuit  priests,  landed  in  Acadia.  They  had  been  ready  to 
sail  from  France  the  year  before,  but  were  prevented  from  doing  so  by 
the  directors  of  the  colony.  See  Charlevoix'  Hist.  New  France,  vol.  1, 
p.  263,  note. 

t  Charlevoix'  Hist.  New  France,  vol.  2,  pp.  35,  37. 


First  Appearance  of  the  Jesuits.  17 

They  were  the  first  representatives  in  Canada  of  that  cele- 
brated religious  society,  which  was  destined  to  play  so  im- 
portant a  part  in  her  ecclesiastical  and  civil  affairs.  The 
Jesuits  had  just  fairly  entered  upon  this  chosen  theater  of  la- 
bor, when  they  were  interrupted  and  dispersed  by  the  English 
invasion  of  the  St.  Lawrence  Valley  in  1629 ;  but,  four 
years  later,  they  resumed  their  missionary  work  on  a  larger 
scale,  and  wrestled  vigorously  with  heathenism  in  the  north- 
ern wilderness.  Cheerfully  enduring  every  form  of  hard- 
ship, and  confronting  every  extremity  of  personal  danger, 
they  penetrated  the  wildest  recesses  of  the  forest  and  lakes, 
and  planted  the  cross,  the  symbol  of  their  faith,  among  the 
most  ignorant  and  savage  tribes  of  the  interior. 

Quebec  continued  from  the  beginning  to  be  the  center 
of  their  operations,  from  whence  missionary  priests  and 
teachers  were  dispatched  far  and  wide. 

During  the  year  1627  Cardinal  Richelieu  organized  a 
company  of  one  hundred  associates,  called  Le  Compagnie 
d'Nouveau  France,  upon  whom  was  conferred  the  possession 
and  government  of  Canada,  with  a  monopoly  of  its  trade 
and  commerce,  and  freedom  from  taxation  for  fifteen  years. 
Under  the  restrictive  regulations  of  this  company,  the  col- 
onists were  all  required  to  be  Frenchmen  and  Roman  Cath- 
olics, a  short-sighted  policy,  which  hampered  the  growth 
and  material  prosperity  of  the  colony.  At  this  epoch  the 
village  of  Quebec  did  not  contain  above  one  hundred  regu- 
lar inhabitants.  It  had  in  fact  a  fort,  a  church,  a  convent, 
and  an  hospital,  before  it  contained  a  fixed  population. 

In  July,  1629,  after  being  blockaded  for  some  time, 
Quebec  was  taken  by  an  English  squadron  under  the  com- 
mand of  Sir  David  Kirk,  a  Huguenot  refugee  of  Scotch 
parentage,  who,  with  his  two  brothers,  had  been  commis- 
sioned to  ascend  the  St.  Lawrence  for  that  purpose.  Cham- 
plain  and  his  feeble  garrison  were  now  put  on  shipboard, 
and  transported  as  prisoners  of  war  to  England.  In  pass- 
ing down  the  river  and  out  to  sea,  they  barely  escaped  being 
recaptured  by  a  French  squadron  under  Emeric  de  Caen, 
who  was  coming  to  the  relief  of  Quebec.  The  Jesuit  mis- 
sionaries on  the  St.  Lawrence  were  also  deported  or  driven 
2 


18  Discovery  and  Settlement  of  Canada. 

away,  and  their  missions  broken  up.  But  by  the  treaty  of 
St.  Germain  en  Laye,  March  29, 1632,  Canada  was  restored 
to  its  former  proprietor,  and  Champlain  was  soon  thereafter 
commissioned  anew  by  Richelieu  as  director-general  of  the 
colony.  At  that  time  there  was  considerable  discussion  at 
the  French  court  as  to  whether  Canada  were  worth  repos- 
sessing, so  little  was  it  valued. 

On  the  23d  of  May,  1633,  the  veteran  Champlain,  hav- 
ing sailed  from  Dieppe  with  three  ships  and  two  hundred 
new  settlers,  arrived  once  more  at  Quebec,  and  with  him 
returned  John  de  Brebeuf,  the  indefatigable  Jesuit  mis- 
sionary. No  sooner  had  Champlain  resumed  command  in 
the  colony,  than  he  addressed  himself  to  the  task  of  restor- 
ing order,  and  of  repairing  the  waste  occasioned  by  the 
English  occupation  of  the  country.  One  of  his  first  cares 
was  to  restore  and  strengthen  the  defenses  of  Quebec, 
which  his  quick  military  discernment  and  experience  had 
taught  him  was  the  key  to  the  St.  Lawrence  River  and 
connecting  lakes.  During  the  next  two  years  he  also 
erected  a  fort  on  Richelieu  Island,  in  Lake  St.  Peter  of  the 
St.  Lawrence,  and  founded  the  post  of  Trois  Rivieres,  or 
Three  Rivers,  between  Quebec  and  Montreal.  But  Cham- 
plain  had  now  attained  to  the  age  of  sixty-eight,  and  was 
worn  out  in  the  laborious  service  of  his  country.  After  an 
illness  lasting  two  months,  he  expired  at  his  quarters  in 
Quebec  on  Christmas  day,  1635,  just  one  hundred  years 
from  the  time  of  Carrier's  first  visit  to  the  spot.  He  died 
without  issue,  and  his  young  wife  soon  afterward  entered 
an  Ursuline  convent,  in  which  she  passed  the  remainder  of 
her  days.  Champlain  appointed  M.  de  Chateaufort  to  di- 
rect the  affairs  of  the  colony  until  the  arrival  of  his  suc- 
cessor, Charlos  Huault  de  Montmagny,  a  knight  of  Malta, 
who  reached  Canada  in  1636,  and  remained  eleven  years. 

We  may  not  pause  here  to  enlarge  upon  the  personal 
and  general  character  of  Samuel  de  Champlain.  He  was 
a  many  sided  man,  and  in  his  time  played  many  parts. 
He  "  presented  the  rare  intermixture  of  the  heroic  quali- 
ties of  past  times,  with  the  zeal  for  science  and  the  prac- 
tical talents  of  modern  ages."  Apart  from  his  high  merits 


Canada  as  a  Royal  Province.  19 

as  a  discoverer  and  scientific  explorer,  he  was  an  intrepid 
negotiator  with  the  aboriginal  tribes,  and  possessed  execu- 
tive abilities  of  the  first  order.  During  a  period  of  twenty- 
seven  years  (saving  three  years  of  enforced  absence),  he 
ably  administered  the  affairs  of  the  nascent  colony,  and 
devoted  all  his  energies  to  the  arduous  duties  of  his  posi- 
tion. Amid  difficulties  and  discouragements  that  would 
have  overwhelmed  a  less  resolute  and  persevering  man,  he 
firmly  fixed  the  authority  of  France  upon  the  banks  of  the 
noble  St.  Lawrence,  and  thus  achieved  for  himself  a  con- 
spicuous and  enduring  place  in  the  Gallic  history  of  the 
country.  Although  traffic  with  the  Indians  was  quite 
lucrative  in  his  day,  he  does  not  appear  to  have  personally 
engaged  in  it,  for  his  thoughts  were  intent  on  higher 
things.  As  a  military  commandant  he  was  just  and  firm, 
according  to  the  maxims  of  his  age,  though  his  justice  was 
ever  tempered  with  clemency.  A  devout  Catholic,  he  was 
zealous  in  promoting  the  religious  welfare  of  the  colonists, 
and  in  the  effort  to  convert  the  aborigines  to  Chris- 
tianity. In  his  writings  he  is  charged  with  credulity  for 
repeating  the  absurd  stories  told  him  by  the  Indians ;  but, 
though  apparently  fond  of  the  marvelous,  we  are  not  to 
infer  that  he  believed  every  thing  he  wrote,  since  much  of 
it  was  related  as  hearsay.  Charlevoix  draws  his  character 
in  flattering  terms,  and  speaks  of  him  as  the  u  Father  of 
New  France."  * 

For  twenty-eight  years  after  Champlain's  death,  the 
management  of  public  affairs  in  Canada  was  continued  in 
the  hands  of  the  Hundred  Associates,  or  partners,  who 
ruled  the  colony  arbitrarily  in  their  own  interests,  and 
thereby  restricted  its  normal  growth  and  development. 
But  in  February,  1663,  they  voluntarily  abandoned  their 
charter  to  the  king.  In  the  following  April,  Louis  XIV. 
issued  an  edict  constituting  a  Sovereign  Council,  empow- 
ered to  carry  on  the  government  of  the  province.  New 
France  thus  became  a  royal  province,  with  the  laws  and 
customs  of  the  Parliament  of  Paris,  and  Quebec  was  con- 


'-  Charlevoix'  New  France,  vol.  II,  p.  89. 


20  Discovery  and  Settlement  of  Canada. 

stituted  a  city.  The  white  population  of  Canada  then  num- 
bered but  twenty-five  hundred  souls,  of  which  eight  hundred, 
including  the  garrison,  were  at  Quebec.*  At  this  transition 
period,  Augustine  de  Saffray  de  Mesy  was  commissioned 
governor  of  the  new  province,  and  M.  Talon  intendant.  De 
Mesy  arrived  at  Quebec  in  September,  1663,  and  officiated 
until  his  death,  which  occurred  May  5, 1665.  He  had  been 
appointed  on  the  recommendation  of  the  Jesuits,  but  after- 
ward disagreed  with  them,  and  his  administration  was  in- 
felicitous. At  or  before  this  time,  however,  the  Marquis 
de  Tracy  was  appointed  viceroy,  or  lieutenant-general  of 
New  France,  with  Daniel  de  Remi,  Sieur  de  Courcelles, 
as  governor,  and  Jean  Baptiste  Talon  intendant.  They  ar- 
rived in  the  St.  Lawrence  during  the  summer  of  1665,  and 
entered  upon  the  duties  of  their  respective  offices. 

Under  the  new  and  more  orderly  system  of  government, 
the  French-Canadians  enjoyed  domestic  tranquillity  and  in- 
creased prosperity  for  .a  series  of  year?.  But  this  was  in- 
terrupted toward  the  close  of  that  century  by  border  wars 
with  the  English  settlers  of  New  England  and  New  York. 
In  1690,  hostilities  then  existing  between  France  and  En- 
gland, an  army  was  raised  in  New  York  and  Connecticut  to 
march  against  Montreal,  though  it  did  not  advance  beyond 
Lake  Champlain.  This  army  of  militia  was  intended  to  co- 
operate with  an  expedition  by  sea,  under  the  command  of 
Sir  William  Phipps,  who  sailed  from  Boston  with  a  fleet 
of  some  thirty  vessels.  Entering  the  St.  Lawrence  in  the 
month  of  October,  and  ascending  it  to  Quebec,  he  landed  a 
part  of  his  troops,  and  laid  siege  to  the  city  both  by  land 
and  water ;  but  he  was  repulsed  and  driven  off  by  the 
French  garrison  under  the  veteran  Count  Frontenac.  Sub- 
sequently, in  the  year  1711,  the  attempt  against  Quebec  was 
renewed  by  Sir  Hovenden  Walker,  with  a  fleet  of  thirty 
sail,  and  a  large  number  of  transports  carrying  troops,  under 
one  General  Hill.  But,  after  having  lost  ten  of  his  trans- 
ports by  shipwreck  at  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  he 

*Kingsford's  Hist,  of  Canada,  vol.  I. 


Quebec  and  Montreal.  21 

abandoned  the  expedition  in  disgust  and  returned  to  En- 
gland. 

By  the  treaty  of  Utrecht  of  April  11,  1713,  Louis  XIV. 
restored  to  England  Hudson's  Bay,  ceded  to  her  New  Found- 
land  and  the  larger  part  of  Acadia,  and  renounced  all  claim 
to  the  Iroquois  country,  reserving  to  France  the  valleys  ot 
the  St.  Lawrence  and  Mississippi,  and  the  region  of  the 
Upper  Lakes.  Prior  to  that  time  New  France  embraced 
not  only  the  Canadas  and  all  of  Acadia,  but  parts  of  North- 
ern New  York  and  New  England. 

It  was  not  until  after  the  English  attack  by  Phipps  in 
1690,  that  the  French  first  attempted  the  construction  of 
stone  fortifications  at  Quebec,  the  town  having  been  pre- 
viously protected  by  palisades  and  earthworks.  Thus  was 
begun  on  a  small  scale  that  elaborate  and  unique  system  of 
fortification,  now  covering  with  its  ravelins  about  forty 
acres,  which  crowns  the  summit  of  Cape  Diamond  at  an 
elevation  of  three  hundred  and  twelve  feet  above  the  level 
of  the  St.  Lawrence,  and  which  has  been  not  inaptly  termed 
the  Gibraltar  of  America.  Whoever  has  stood  upon  the 
parapetted  and  breezy  heights  of  this  renowned  fortress 
could  not  have  failed  to  be  impressed  with  its  exceeding 
military  strength,  or  charmed  with  the  magnificent  and  un- 
rivaled view  it  commands  of  the  surrounding  rivers,  valleys, 
villages,  and  distant  mountains.  The  relative  value  and 
importance  of  the  citadel  as  a  place  of  defense,  however,  has 
been  greatly  diminished  by  the  improved  military  science 
of  the  present  age.* 

Before  closing  this  preliminary  chapter,  it  is  fitting 
that  we  should  concisely  yet  distinctly  trace  the  origin 
and  primordial  history  of  Montreal,  the  sister  city  of  Que- 
bec, and  the  great  emporium  of  the  Canadas.  Montreal  is 
situated  on  the  southeastern  side  of  the  large,  triangular 
island  of  the  same  name,  at  the  head  of  ship  navigation  on 
the  St.  Lawrence  River,  and  at  the  foot  of  that  great  chain 
of  improved  inland  waters  which  stretch  westward  to  the 


*  It  was  during  a  visit  to  this  historic  citadel  that  Daniel  Webster 
caught  the  inspiration  of  one  of  his  finest  strains  of  eloquence. 


22  Discovet^y  and  Settlement  of  Canada. 

extremity  of  Lake  Superior.  Within  the  extended  limits 
of  the  present  Canadian  Dominion,  no  nobler  site  could 
well  have  been  selected  for  a  large  commercial  city.  From 
this  vantage  point  the  majestic  St.  Lawrence,  unbroken  by 
any  considerable  rapids,  flows  on  in  one  broad  and  deep 
channel  for  six  hundred  miles  to  the  ocean,  bearing  upon 
its  ample  bosom  the  rich  and  varied  products  of  an  empire. 

Montreal  was  founded  in  1641-42,  on  the  site  of  the 
ancient  Indian  village  of  Hochelaga.  It  was  officially 
christened  Ville  Marie,  or  City  of  Mary,  and  for  many 
years  was  known  by  that  as  well  as  its  present  name.  As 
early  as  the  year  1636,  Jean  Jacques  Olier  de  Verneuil  had 
formed  an  association  in  France,  for  the  purpose  of  colo- 
nizing the  island  of  Montreal.  These  associates  purchased 
the  Island  of  Jean  de  Lauson,  August  7,  1640,  and,  in 
order  to  remove  all  doubts  about  the  title,  obtained  a  grant 
of  it  from  the  Company  of  New  France,  on  the  17th  of 
December,  in  that  year.  In  the  summer  of  1641,  they  sent 
out  the  Sieur  de  Maisonneuve,  a  gentleman  of  Champagne, 
with  a  company  of  about  forty  colonists,  including  some 
ecclesiastics,  to  make  a  settlement.  Maisonneuve  arrived 
at  Quebec  on  the  20th  of  August,  and  thence  proceeded  up 
the  river  to  Montreal,  where  he  was  duly  installed  governor 
of  the  island.  After  wintering  his  colonists  in  Quebec  and 
Sainte  Foy,  he  returned  to  Montreal  in  the  spring  of  1642, 
and,  on  the  17th  of  May,  having  heard  solemn  mass,  he 
began  an  intrenchment  around  his  encampment.  Subse- 
quently, in  1656,  the  proprietorship  of  this  company  was 
transferred  to  the  Society  or  Seminary  of  St.  Sulpice,  which 
had  been  founded  by  Father  Olier,  at  Paris,  in  September, 
1645,  for  the  special  training  of  candidates  for  the  priest- 
hood. The  Sulpitians  took  possession  of  the  island  in 
1657,  and  established  there  a  seminary  and  missionary  es- 
tablishment, which  has  maintained  its  footing  down  to  our 
time.* 

Although  of  a  distinctively  religious  origin,  and  never 

*  For  a  further  account  of  the  movement  toward  the  first  settlement 
of  Montreal,  see  Charlevoix'  Hist.  New  France,  Vol.  II,  pp.  125  to  130, 
and  accompanying  notes. 


Montreal.  23 

the  political  capital  of  Canada,  under  the  French  regime 
(except  for  a  short  time  after  the  fall  of  Quebec,  in  1759), 
Montreal  early  became  the  commercial  metropolis  of  the 
colony,  the  repository  of  its  wealth,  and  the  center  of  its 
increasing  fur-trade.  The  town  was  not  regarded  by  the 
colonial  authorities  as  a  place  of  special  military  conse- 
quence, nor  was  it  ever  regularly  fortified  until  1758,  and 
then  under  the  stress  of  war  and  expected  English  invasion. 
While  its  history  is  hardly  so  thrilling,  or  distinguished  by 
so  many  vicissitudes,  as  that  of  Quebec,  it  is  still  replete 
with  events  of  deep  and  abiding  interest. 

It  was  here,  during  the  lengthened  period  of  the  Gal- 
lic rule,  that  most  of  those  secular  and  missionary  expedi- 
tions were  finally  equipped  and  sent  out  to  the  West,  which 
first  disclosed  to  European  eyes  the  boundless  extent  and 
physical  resources  of  the  interior  of  North  America.  Here, 
from  time  to  time,  were  wont  to  rendezvous  and  go  forth 
to  explore  and  subdue  the  savage  wilderness,  those  little 
bands  of  Recollet  friars  and  Jesuit  priests,  those  high-bred 
and  intrepid  soldiers  of  fortune,  those  hardy  adventurers, 
voyageurs,  traders  and  trappers,  whose  deeds  of  daring  and 
discovery,  of  courage  and  constancy,  of  penance  and  piety, 
of  suffering  and  self-sacrifice,  have  been  immortalized  in 
prose  and  in  verse. 


24  Spanish  Discovery  of  the 


CHAPTER  II. 

1539-1671. 
DISCOVERY   OF  THE    MISSISSIPPI   RIVER    AND  OF  THE   NORTHWEST. 

According  to  Spanish  colonial  chronicles,  the  Missis- 
sippi River  was  discovered  by  Hernando  de  Soto,*  an  am- 
bitious soldier  of  fortune,  who,  after  acquiring  wealth  and 
distinction  under  Pizarro  in  Peru,  returned  to  Spain,  and 
was  commissioned  by  the  emperor,  Charles  V.,  to  be  gov- 
ernor and  captain-general  for  life  of  Cuba  and  Florida. 
Having  obtained  the  imperial  permission  and  authority  to 
undertake,  at  his  own  expense,  the  exploration  and  conquest 
of  Florida,!  De  Soto  raised  and  equipped  a  force  of  six  hun- 
dred picked  men,  Spaniards  and  Portuguese,  besides  twenty 
officers  and  twenty-four  ecclesiastics.  "With  these  he  put 
to  sea  from  San  Lucar,  Spain,  on  April  6,  1538,  and  before 
the  end  of  May  arrived  at  the  port  of  St.  Jago  de  Cuba, 
then  the  seat  of  government,  in  the  southeastern  corner  of 
the  island.  Here  he  tarried  a  few  months  to  arrange  his 
affairs  of  state,  and  then  proceeded  to  Havana,  where  he 
was  joined  by  his  consort,  Dona  Isabella,  and  all  of  his 
troops. 

It  was  on  the  18th  of  May,  1539,  after  fourteen  months 
of  busy  preparation,  that  the  captain -general  and  his  splen- 
did armament,  with  nodding  plumes  and  waving  banners, 
embarked  for  the  shallow  and  treacherous  coast  of  West 
Florida.  Before  setting  sail,  however,  he  appointed  one  of 
his  trusted  friends  in  Havana  to  act  with  his  wife  in  the 
government  of  Cuba  during  his  absence.  His  fleet  con- 
sisted of  live  large  ships,  two  caravels,  and  two  brigantines, 


*  Variously  written  by  different  authors  Ferdinand,  Fernando,  and 
Hernaudo  de  Soto. 

t  This  large  peninsula  had  been  discovered  and  named  by  Ponce  de 
Leon  in  1512,  but  little  was  known  of  the  interior  of  the  country. 


Soto's  Expedition  through  Florida.  25 

carrying  six  hundred  and  twenty  soldiers,  and  two  hundred 
and  twenty-three  horses.*  They  also  carried  a  numerous 
retinue  of  priests,  servitors,  and  camp-followers,  and  a  large 
herd  of  swine.  The  horsemen  were  all  furnished  with 
shirts  of  mail,  steel  caps  and  greaves,  after  the  military 
fashion  of  that  age.  The  fleet  quit  the  harbor  of  Havana 
with  a  favorable  wind,  but  was  becalmed  on  entering  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  did  not  reach  its  destination  until  the 
25th  of  May,  when  it  came  to  anchor  at  the  Bay  of  Espiritu 
Santo,  now  called  Tampa  Bay.  On  the  30th  of  that  month 
De  Soto  debarked  his  troops,  horses  and  baggage,  and 
pitched  his  camp  on  the  seashore.  After  some  little  skirm- 
ishing with  hostile  parties  of  the  natives,  in  which  several 
of  his  light-armed  troops  were  wounded,  he  took  possession 
of  the  deserted  village  of  Ucita,  situated  about  two  leagues 
up  the  bay.  This  place  he  proceeded  to  fortify  by  throw- 
ing up  intrenchments,  etc.,  and  made  it  his  base  of  opera- 
tions. 

Learning  from  an  Indian  captive  that  a  Spaniard 
was  living  not  many  leagues  away,  who  had  been  a  soldier 
in  the  unfortunate  expedition  of  Pamphilio  de  Narvaez,  in 
1527  or  '28,  the  governor  sent  an  escort  for  him  and  had 
him  brought  to  his  headquarters.  This  Spaniard  was  a 
native  of  Seville,  and  his  name  was  Juan  Ortiz.  He  ap- 
peared at  the  Spanish  camp  with  his  face  painted,  and 
otherwise  accoutered  as  a  savage.  On  being  interrogated 
he  stated  that  he  had  lived  among  the  Florida  Indians 
eleven  years,  and  knew  their  language  very  well,  but  could 
not  tell  much  about  the  country,  only  that  there  was  no 
gold  in  it.  Taking  him  for  a  guide  and  interpreter,  De  Soto 
now  set  out  to  penetrate  the  interior  with  all  his  army,  ex- 
cept sixty  foot  soldiers  and  twenty-six  horsemen,  who  were 
left  behind  to  guard  the  fort.f 

After  spending  the  remainder  of  that  season  in  ram- 
bling through  the  tangled  forests  and  everglades  of  the 


*  Narrative  of  Luis  Hernandez  de  Biedma,  or  Biedura,  factor  of  the 
expedition. 

t  Biedma's  Narrative. 


26  Spanish  Discovery  of  the 

peninsula,  he  wintered  in  the  territory  of  the  Appalach- 
ians, near  the  northwestern  coast,  and  during  the  next 
spring  marched  to  the  northeast,  traversing  what  is  now 
Georgia  and  a  part  of  South  Carolina.  Arriving  early  in 
May  on  the  banks  of  a  wide  river,*  near  a  large  village  of 
the  Cofitachiqui,  the  Indian  queen  of  that  nation  sent  her 
sister  with  a  present  of  a  necklace  of  beads  to  De  Soto, 
and  canoes  with  which  to  cross  the  river.  When  he 
reached  the  village,  the  queen  gave  him  the  use  of  one- 
half  of  it  in  which  to  lodge  his  men,  and  also  sent  him  a 
present  of  many  wild  hens.  Searching  the  graves  of  a  dis- 
peopled town  in  that  vicinity  for  treasure,  the  Spaniards 
discovered  a  great  store  of  pearls,  which,  however,  had 
been  injured  by  being  buried  in  the  ground.  They  also 
found  two  Spanish  axes,  and  some  beads  resembling  those 
brought  from  Spain  for  the  purpose  of  trading  with  the 
Indians.  It  was  conjectured  that  these  last  articles  had 
been  obtained  in  trade  from  the  companions  of  Vasquez  de 
Ayllon,  who,  sailing  from  Hispaniola,  had  landed  at  a  port 
on  the  coast  of  Carolina  in  the  year  1525. 

Remaining  at  the  village  of  the  Indian  princess  sev- 
eral days,  the  Spanish  governor  next  marched  jiorth- 
westward,  crossing  the  southern  spurs  of  the  Blue  Ridge 
Mountains,  and  thence  bent  his  general  course  southward 
through  the  present  State  of  Alabama,  inquiring  every- 
where for  the  precious  metals,  often  hearing  of  them,  but 
finding  little  or  none.  The  aborigines,  living  along  this 
extended  and  tortuous  route,  were  sometimes  hostile,  and 
at  other  times  friendly,  but  nowhere  offered  any  effectual 
resistance  to  the  progress  of  the  invaders.  The  privations 
and  sufferings  of  the  Spaniards  were  often  severe,  and  their 
adventures  bordered  closely  on  the  marvelous.f 

About  the  middle  of  October,  1540,  Soto  and  his 
army  arrived  at  a  large  palisaded  town  called  Mavila,  or 
Mauvila  (Mobile),  which  was  situated  on  the  Alabama 

*  Supposed  to  be  the  Savannah  River,  and  probably  in  the  Chero- 
kee country. 

t  Thomas'  History  of  the  U.  S. 


Soto's  Expedition  through  Florida.  27 

River,  a  short  distance  above  its  confluence  with  the  Tom- 
bigbee.  The  natives  of  that  southern  locality  had  con- 
ceived a  strong  aversion  toward  the  Spaniards  on  account 
of  their  reputed  inhumanity,  and  this  was  intensified  by 
the  arbitrary  action  of  the  latter  in  seizing  and  holding  as 
prisoner,  for  a  time,  the  Indian  cacique,  Tuscalosa,  for  sus- 
pected treachery.  This  bitter  state  of  feeling  soon  burst 
out  into  a  bloody  conflict,  which  lasted  several  days,  and 
during  which  the  Indian  town  was  fired  and  reduced  to 
ashes,  together  with  a  great  many  of  its  inhabitants,  and  a 
part  of  the  baggage  of  the  Spaniards.  According  to  some 
Spanish  accounts,  twenty -five  hundred  of  the  natives  either 
died  in  battle,  or  were  suffocated  and  burned  to  death,  at 
Mavila. 

Having  now  lost  about  one  hundred  of  his  men  and 
forty-two  horses,  since  landing  in  Florida,  De  Soto  went 
into  camp  for  a  few  weeks  to  rest  his  little  army,  and  care 
for  the  wounded.  Any  one  but  this  proud  and  headstrong 
captain  would  have  here  renounced  his  scheme  of  barren 
conquest  and  fruitless  search  for  mineral  wealth,  and  joined 
his  brigantines  which  had  arrived  at  the  harbor  of  Ochuse,* 
only  one  hundred  miles  away.  But  still  lured  forward  by 
the  hope  of  finding  some  rich  country,  he  broke  up  his 
camp  and  marched  to  the  northwest.  Fighting  his  way 
through  the  woods  and  across  rivers  into  the  heart  of  the 
Chickasaw  country,  he  put  his  troops  into  winter  quarters 
at  the  small  village  of  Chicaca,  on  the  upper  waters  (it  is 
supposed)  of  the  Yazoo  River.  Early  in  the  following 
March,  Soto,  as  had  been  his  custom,  made  a  requisition 
upon  the  principal  cacique  of  the  neighborhood  for  two 
hundred  men  to  carry  his  baggage  to  the  banks  of  the 
Mississippi.  To  this  unexpected  demand  the  wily  sachem 
gave  an  evasive  answer,  and,  instead  of  complying  with  it, 
secretly  collected  his  warriors  at  night,  and  attacked  and 
set  fire  to  the  village  in  which  the  Spaniards  were  lodged ; 
thus  causing  the  destruction  of  the  clothing  and  stores  of 
the  latter,  as  well  as  the  loss  of  fifty-seven  of  their  horses 


Pensacola  Bay,  the  Achusi  of  La  Vega. 


28          >       Spanish  Discovery  of  the  Mississippi. 

and  fourteen  men,  who  perished  in  the  fight  and  flames.* 
This  frightful  disaster  occasioned  the  Spaniards  a  month's 
delay,  during  which  time  forges  were  erected,  swords  re- 
tempered,  ashen  lances  made,  and  every  effort  put  forth  to 
repair  their  irreparable  losses. 

At  length,  late  in  April,  1541,  the  indomitable  com- 
mander again  resumed  his  march,  and,  after  struggling  for 
a  week  or  more  through  the  intervening  wilderness  of  for- 
est and  swamp,  and  meeting  and  overcoming  stubborn  op- 
position from  the  natives,  he  reached  the  long  sought  Mis- 
sissippif — the  Rio  Grande  of  De  la  Vega,  and  the  Rio  del 
Espiritu  Santo  of  the  Spaniards  generally.  The  character 
of  this  mighty  stream  has  not  materially  changed  in  the 
lapse  of  three  and  a  half  centuries.  It  was  then  described 
(at  the  place  of  crossing)  as  almost  half  a  league  wide,  and 
flowing  with  a  swift  current  in  a  deep  channel.  The  river 
was  always  muddy,  and  trees  and  timber  were  continually 
floating  down  it.  The  Indian  town  where  Soto  first 
struck  the  main  river,  was  called  Quizquiz,  or  Chisca,| 
names  now  incapable  of  identification.  The  actual  ap- 
pearance of  the  Spanish  captain,  and  of  his  tattered  and 
battle-scarred  followers,  marshaled  on  the  low  banks  of  the 
Mississippi,  was  no  doubt  tame  enough  in  contrast  with  the 
brilliantly  pictured  representation  of  the  scene  on  canvas. 

Here  the  resolute  adventurers  were  detained  nearly  a 
month,  constructing  pirogues  and  barges  to  convey  them- 
selves, horses  and  baggage,  over  the  river.  They  appear  to 
have  crossed  to  the  western  side  at  the  foot  of  the  lowest 
Chickasaw  bluff,  a  short  distance  below  the  site  of  the  present 
city  of  Memphis.  Such,  at  all  events,  is  the  generally  re- 
ceived opinion,  though  a  few  modern  writers  endeavor  to 


*  See  Biedma's  Narrative. 

t  "  There  is  probably  no  river  that  has  had  so  many  names  as  this 
great  river.  The  name  Mechisapa  was  afterward  written  Missisipi,  and 
finally  Mississippi.  The  Indians,  according  to  their  different  localities 
and  languages,  had  different  names  for  it.  Soto  first  knew  it  by  the 
name  of  Chucagua.  The  French  several  times  changed  its  name,  call- 
ing it  St.  Louis,  Colbert,  etc."— Shipp's  History  DeSoto,  p.  674. 

t  The  latter  is  the  name  given  by  La  Vega. 


Soto's  Expedition  through  Florida.  29 

fix  the  place  of  their  crossing  below  the  junction  of  the  Ar- 
kansas.* 

After  passing  the  Mississippi,  Soto  and  his  caravan 
moved  in  a  northwesterly  direction  to  the  Indian  village  of 
Pacaha,  situated  not  far  to  the  west  of  the  modern  New 
Madrid,  Missouri.  Stopping  there  some  twenty-seven  days, 
he  sent  out  small  parties  to  explore  the  country,  and  after- 
ward marched  north  and  west  to  the  highlands  of  White 
River,  the  northern  limit  of  his  expedition.  Still  seeking 
the  rich  realm  described  by  De  Yaca,f  the  Spanish  captain 
now  changed  his  course  to  the  southeast,  and  came  to  a 
large  town  of  the  people  called  Quigata.  This  is  supposed 
to  have  been  on  the  river  Arkansas,  near  Little  Rock.  But 
he  was  again  tempted  westward,  up  into  the  region  of  the 
Ozark  mountains,  and  on  his  route  may  have  passed  by 
the  Hot  Springs,  one  of  the  fabled  fountains  of  youth.  He 
next  wintered  at  the  town  of  Vicanque,  or  Autiamque, 
which  was  probably  on  the  Upper  Arkansas,  though  some 
writers  place  it  on  the  headwaters  of  the  Washita.  It  was 
here  that  Juan  Ortiz,  the  interpreter,  died  much  regretted. 

In  March,  1542,  De  Soto  left  Vicanque  and  descended 
the  Valley  of  the  Arkansas,  to  get  information  in  regard  to 
the  sea.  Returning  to  the  banks  of  the  Mississippi,  he  fixed 
his  fortified  camp  at  a  village  called  Guachoya,  or  Guach- 
oyanque,!  which  was  probably  situated  not  far  below  the 
confluence  of  the  Arkansas.  The  commander  now  found 
his  health  and  strength  declining  under  the  fatigues  and 
anxieties  of  his  disappointing  enterprise,  and  his  lofty  pride 
gave  way  to  a  settled  melancholy.  This  was  accompanied 


*See  the  different  opinions  on  this  mooted  question  collected  in  a 
note  to  Bancroft's  History  of  the  U.  S.  (edition  of  1875)  vol  I,  p.  59.  See 
also  a  lengthy  note  on  the  '•  Route  of  DeSoto,"  in  the  appendix  to  B. 
Shipp's  History  of  Soto  and  Florida  (Philadelphia,  1881),  pp.  676-681. 

t  Cabeca  de  Vaca  was  second  in  command  of  the  expedition  of  Nar- 
vaez  in  1528,  and  it  is  asserted  or  conjectured  that  he  discovered  one  of 
the  mouths  of  the  Mississippi. 

t  Some  modern  writers,  including  Bancroft,  locate  Guachoya  near 
the  mouth  of  Red  River ;  but  we  prefer  to  follow  Mr.  McCullough,  Mr. 
Shea,  and  others,  who  would  confine  De  Soto's  wanderings  west  of  the 
Great  River  to  the  Valley  of  the  Arkansas  and  its  tributaries. 


30  Spanish  Discovery  of  the 

by  a  malignant  and  wasting  fever,  of  which  he  died  on  the 
5th  of  June,  1542,  being  aged  about  forty  and  six  years. 
The  knowledge  of  his  death  was  kept  a  secret  from  the  In- 
dians of  the  locality,  who  yet  surmised  the  fact,  and  his 
body,  wrapped  in  a  mantle,  was  buried  within  the  camp  or 
town.  But  to  effectually  guard  the  corpse  against  outrage 
by  the  superstitious  savages,  it  was  exhumed  a  few  days 
after,  and  placed  in  the  hollowed  trunk  of  an  oak,  and  then 
lowered  at  midnight  into  the  deep  bosom  of  the  Father  of 
Waters,*  an  appropriate  resting-place  for  its  daring  discov- 
erer. It  is  related  that  his  sympathetic  and  devoted  wife 
expired  at  Havana  within  three  days  after  hearing  the  'sad 
tidings  of  his  end. 

According  to  the  more  credible  authorities,  Hern  an  do 
de  Soto  was  born  at  Xeres  de  los  Cabelleros,  in  the  princi- 
pality of  Estramadura,  Spain,  about  the  year  1496.  He  was 
the  scion  of  a  noble  yet  impoverished  family,  and  was  in- 
debted to  one  Pedrais  d'  Avila  for  the  means  of  pursuing 
an  university  course.  After  this  he  went  to  the  West  In- 
dies, and  joined  Pizarro's  expedition  to  Peru.  In  his  ex- 
ploration and  attempted  conquest  of  Florida,  he  is  said  to 
have  expended  more  than  one  hundred  thousand  ducats. 

Garcilasso  de  la  Vega,  in  his  "  History  of  the  Conquest 
of  Florida,"  gives  us  this  concise  yet  flattering  delineation 
of  De  Soto's  person  and  character : 

"  He  was  a  little  above  the  medium  height,  had  a  cheer- 
ful countenance,  though  somewhat  swarthy,  and  was  an  ex- 
cellent horseman.  Fortunate  in  his  enterprises,  if  death 
had  not  interrupted  his  designs ;  vigilant,  skillful,  ambitious, 
patient  under  difficulties;  severe  to  chastise  offenses,  but 
ready  to  pardon  others  ;  charitable  and  liberal  toward  the 
soldiers ;  brave  and  daring,  as  much  so  as  any  captain  who 


*  The  Knight  of  Elvas  states,  in  his  narrative,  that  Soto  died  on  the 
21st  of  May,  1542,  and  also  gives  a  different  account  of  his  final  burial 
from  that  currently  accepted.  He  says :  "  Luys  de  Moscoso  commanded 
him  (Soto)  to  be  taken  up,  and  to  cast  a  great  deal  of  sand  into  the 
mantles  in  which  he  was  wound,  wherein  he  was  carried  in  a  canoe, 
and  thrown  into  the  river." 


Survivors  of  Soto's  Expedition.  31 

had  entered  the  new  world.  So  many  rare  qualities  caused 
him  to  be  regretted  by  all  the  troops."* 

By  his  last  will,  De  Soto  appointed  Luis  de  Muscoso 
d'Alvarado,  his  favorite  lieutenant,  to  succeed  him  in  com- 
mand of  the  army,  which  had  been  reduced  by  disease  and 
casualties  to  one-half  its  original  number.  The  real  pur- 
pose of  the  expedition  was  now  abandoned,  the  only  object 
of  the  survivors  being  to  quit  the  country  as  best  they 
might.  Doubting  his  ability  to  lead  the  men  back  to  Cuba 
by  way  of  the  Mississippi  and  the  Gulf,  the  new  commander 
set  forth  on  a  long  and  hazardous  journey  to  the  west  and 
southwest  in  hopes  of  reaching  the  Spanish  settlements  in 
northern  Mexico,  as  De  Vaca  claimed  to  have  done  after 
the  failure  of  the  expedition  of  ^"arvaez,  to  which  allusion 
has  been  made.  In  the  course  of  this  arduous  march,  ex- 
tending over  seven  hundred  miles,  Muscoso  and  his  troop 
traversed  a  considerable  part  of  the  Valley  of  Red  River, 
and  passed  by  some  tribes  who  were  found  still  inhabiting 
that  country  when  it  was  first  explored  by  the  French, 
nearly  a  century  and  a  half  later.  The  most  westerly  town 
reached  by  our  band  of  adventurers  was  named  Nacachoz, 
or  Nazachoz,  in  western  Texas.  Here  they  saw  pottery, 
turquoises,  and  cotton  mantles  from  Mexico,  and  met  with 
an  Indian  woman  who  had  belonged  to  a  Spanish  expedi- 
tion sent  eastward  from  the  Pacific  coast  a  few  years  before. 
Continuing  to  advance  ten  days  longer,  they  crossed  a  con- 
siderable river,|  when  they  found  themselves  in  a  desert 
region  peopled  by  roving  and  predatory  tribes. 

Disheartened  at  the  cheerless  prospect,  and  fearing 
treachery  from  their  native  guides,  the  Spaniards  now  faced 
'about  and  retraced  their  weary  course  to  the  Mississippi. 
Arrived  once  more  at  Guachoya,  where  Soto  had  deceased, 
they  determined  to  construct  some  vessels  with  which  to 
descend  to  the  sea  and  return  to  their  own  country.  But 
not  finding  the  requisite  facilities  for  the  work,  they  as- 

*  See  Shipp's  History  of  De  Soto  and  Florida,  p.  438. 
t  Supposed  to  have  been  the  Pecos  branch  of  the  Rio  Bravo  del 
Norte. 


32  Spanish  Discovery  of  the  Mississippi. 

cended  the  river  to  the  village  of  Minoya,*  where  they  went 
into  winter  quarters  and  stayed  six  months.  Here  they  set 
up  a  forge,  and  worked  all  their  iron  and  chains  into  nails 
and  spikes.  They  cut  and  dressed  timbers,  split  boards, 
laid  keels,  and  thus  built  seven  light  brigantines,  in  which 
they  laid  loose  planks  for  decks,  and  afterward  stretched 
rawhides  and  mats  to  protect  themselves  from  the  Indian 
arrows. 

It  was  on  the  2d  of  July,  1543,  that  the  shattered 
remnant  of  Soto's  once  proud  array,  now  reckoned  at  only 
three  hundred  and  twenty-two  men,  embarked  in  their 
slender  brigantines,  with  a  canoe  attached  to  each,  and 
began  to  drift  down  the  great  river.  During  the  voyage, 
they  suffered  great  annoyance  and  injury  from  the  Indians 
along  the  Lower  Mississippi,  who  were  exasperated  at  the 
Spaniards  on  account  of  their  cruelties,  and  who  followed 
them  in  canoes  for  many  days,  and  harassed  them  with  re- 
peated attacks,  both  by  land  and  water.  In  one  of  these 
encounters  with  the  savages,  according  to  the  Knight  of 
Elvas,  the  brave  Juan  de  Guzman  and  ten  soldiers  were 
slain  or  drowned  in  the  river.  Escaping  at  length  from 
their  enemies,  and  having  sailed  as  they  computed  two 
hundred  and  fifty  leagues,  Muscoso  and  his  followers 
reached  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  on  the  18th  of  July.  From 
thence,  instead  of  venturing  to  cross  the  open  sea  in  their 
weak  craft,  they  coasted  its  low  shores  to  the  west  and 
south  for  fifty-two  days,  and,  after  undergoing  incredible 
hardships,  finally  arrived  at  the  town  of  Panuco,  in  Mexico, 
on  the  10th  of  September.  "  The  inhabitants  of  Panuco," 
says  the  old  chronicler,  Garcilasso  de  la  Vega,  "  were  all 
touched  with  pity  at  beholding  this  forlorn  remnant  of  the* 
gallant  armament  of  the  renowned  Hernaudo  de  Soto. 
They  were  blackened,  haggard,  shriveled  up,  and  half- 
naked,  being  clad  only  with  the  skins  of  deer,  buffalo, 


*  Or  Aminyo.  The  precise  location  of  this  village,  where  the  brig- 
antines were  built,  can  not  now  be  settled,  its  Spanish-Indian  name 
having  left  no  trace,  but  it  is  supposed  to  have  been  on  a  small  river 
that  put  into  the  Mississippi  a  few  miles  above  the  mouth  of  the  Ar- 
kansas. 


Survivors  of  Soto's  Expedition.  33 

bears  Yin d  other  animals,  and  looking  more  like  wild  beasts 
than  human  beings.* 

This  wonderful  yet  disastrous  expedition,  covering  a 
period  of  over  four  years,  was  practically  the  beginning  of 
the  history  of  the  United  States  of  North  America ;  for  the 
migrations  and  wars  of  the  savage  tribes,  who  had  hitherto 
occupied  the  whole  country,  are  of  hardly  more  historical 
value  than  the  flights  and  skirmishes  of  so  many  hawks 
and  crows.  In  this  category  we  would  not  class  the  old 
Mound  Builders,  of  whom  and  whose  works  so  much  has 
been  learnedly  written,  while  so  little  comparatively  is 
really  known.  They,  too,  were  probably  Indians,  though 
of  a  more  intelligent  and  civilised  type  than  those  found 
here  by  the  Europeans. 

Subsequently,  in  the  year  1557,  owing  to  the  implaca- 
ble hostility  of  the  natives,  and  to  the  loss  of  the  crews  of 
several  Spanish  ships  that  had  been  wrecked  on  the  coasts 
of  Florida,  the  King  of  Spain  gave  orders  for  the  military 
reduction  of  that  country.  Accordingly,  in  1559,  an  ex- 
pedition of  fifteen  hundred  men  was  equipped  and  sailed 
from  Vera  Cruz,  Mexico,  under  the  command  of  the  vet- 
eran Bon  Tristan  de  Luna.  He  landed  with  his  army  at 
St.  Mary's  Bay,  now  Pensacola,  and  advanced  northward 
into  the  interior,  and  thence  westward  to  the  Mississippi, 
in  the  country  of  the  Natchez  Indians.  In  the  meantime 
dissensions  and  revolts  arose  among  his  troops,  which  im- 
paired the  success  of  the  ;expedition,  and  necessitated  a 
retrograde  march  to  the  coast,  where  vessels  soon  after 
arrived  and  carried  the  survivors  back  to  Mexico. 

Henceforth  the  Mississippi  River  appears  to  have  been 
neglected  and  forgotten  by  the  Spaniards,  although  they 
had  explored  it  for  nearly  a  thousand  miles,  and  were  ac- 
quainted with  at  least  two  of  its  principal  western  tributa- 

*  For  full,  if  not,  always  trustworthy  accounts  of  De  Soto's  expedi- 
tion, see  the  contemporary  chronicles  of  Biedma  or  Biedura,  of  the 
Gentleman  of  Elvas,  and  of  Garcilasso  de  la  Vega,  several  English  ver- 
sions of  which  are  in  print.  That  of  Biedma  is  the  shortest,  and  per- 
haps the  most  authentic. 


34  French  Discovery  of  the  Northwest. 

ries.  It  was  afterward  laid  down  on  their  maps  of  West 
Florida  as  a  comparatively  unimportant  stream,  and  was 
not  always  distinguished  by  its  original  Spanish  name ;  nor 
is  it  certain  that  any  ship  of  that  nation  had  ever  entered 
and  ascended  the  great  river  from  the  sea.  Spain  thus 
abandoned  the  Valley  of  the  Mississippi  to  its  primitive 
wildness  and  savagery,  partly  because  of  the  great  difficulty 
of  penetrating  the  country,  but  chiefly  for  the  reason  that 
no  El  Dorado,  no  glittering  gold,  was  found  in  all  that 
semi-tropical  region  to  attract  and  satisfy  Spanish  cupidity. 

Nearly  a  hundred  years  had  elapsed  after  Soto's  primal 
discovery,  when  Jean*  Nicolet,  an  intrepid  French  voyageur, 
reached  the  vicinity  of  a  northern  affluent  of  the  Mississippi. 
John  Nicolet  was  a  son  of  Thomas  Nicolet,  of  Cherbourg, 
France.  He  came  to  Canada  as  a  youth  in  1618,  and  was 
shortly  after  sent  by  Champlain  to  reside  with  the  barbar- 
ous Algonquins  on  the  Isle  des  Allumettes,  situated  in  the 
Ottawa  River,  above  Chaudiere  Falls.  He  stayed  with  them 
two  years,  following  them  in  their  periodical  hunts,  partak- 
ing of  their  fatigues  and  privations,  and  often  suffering 
keenly  from  the  pangs  of  hunger  and  the  brutality  of  the 
savages.  In  the  meantime,  however,  he  acquired  an  inti- 
mate knowledge  of  the  Algonquin  language,  then  generally 
spoken  on  both  the  Ottawa  River  and  the  northern  banks 
of  the  St.  Lawrence.  Nicolet  afterward  went  to.  reside 
among  the  Nipissings,  on  the  shores  of  the  lake  of  that 
name,  with  whom  he  remained  about  nine  years.  Here  he 
lived  as  an  Indian,  speaking  their  harsh  tongue,  having  his 
own  little  cabin  and  establishment,  and  doing  his  own  fish- 
ing and  trading.  But  he  still  continued  a  Frenchman  and 
a  Catholic,  and  at  length  returned  to  the  confines  of  civili- 
zation, because,  as  he  said,  "  he  could  not  live  without  the 
sacraments,"  which  were  denied  him  in  the  depths  of  the 
wilderness. 

After  the  repossession  of  Canada  by  the  French  in  July, 
1632,  the  Sieur  Mcolet  was  employed  as  a  commissary  and 
Indian  interpreter  for  the  company  that  governed  the  col- 
ony. In  1634,  or  thereabouts,  he  was  sent  as  an  agent  or 


Jean  Nicolet.  35 

embassador  to  the  Winnebagoes,  who  dwelt  near  the  head 
of  Green  Bay  of  Lake  Michigan.*  They  had  quarreled  with 
the  Nez  Perces,  or  Beaver  Indians,  whose  hunting-grounds 
lay  to  the  north  of  Lake  Huron,  and  who  were  friendly  to- 
ward the  French.  Nicolet  was  charged,  among  other 
things,  to  negotiate  a  peace  with  those  discordant  tribes. 
But  the  main  object  of  his  expedition  appears  to  have  been 
to  solve  the  problem  of  a  western  and  more  direct  route  to 
China,  whicli  country  was  supposed  to  be  situated  not  far 
beyond  the  most  westerly  of  the  great  lakes. 

Agreeably  to  the  best  accredited  account  of  his  cele- 
brated journey,  Nicolet  set  out  in  a  bark  canoe,  with  seven 
Huron  Indians  for  guides  and  huntsmen,  and  ascended 
the  Ottawa  River  to  a  station  above  Allumette  Island. 
Turning  thence  to  the  west,  he  traveled  by  way  of  Lake 
Nipissing  to  the  Georgian  Bay  of  Lake  Huron,  and  followed 
its  rugged  and  forbidding  coast  up  to  the  Rapids  of  St. 
Mary,  where  he  held  interviews  with  the  natives  of  those 
parts.  Returning  down  the  strait  of  that  name,  he  next  en- 
tered and  passed  through  the  Straits  of  Michilimackinac — 
about  three  leagues  in  length — emerging  on  the  watery  ex- 
panse of  Lake  Michigan,  or  Lake  of  Illinois,  as  it  was  first 
known  by  the  French,  of  which  he  was  entitled  to  the 

*"In  no  record,  contemporaneous  or  later,"  says  Mr.  Butterfield, 
"  is  the  date  of  his  journey  thither  given,  except  approximately.  The 
fact  of  Nicolet  having  made  the  journey  to  the  Winnebagoes  is  first  no- 
ticed by  (Father)  Viniont,  in  the  Relation  of  1640,  p.  35.  He  says:  "  Le 
visite  ray  taut  maintenant  le  cote  du  sud,  ie  diray  ou  passant,  que  le  Sieur  Ni- 
colet, interpreter  en  langue  Algonquine  et  Huronne  pour  Messieurs  de  la  NouveUe 
France,  m'  a  donne  les  noms  de  ces  nations  qu'il  a  visitie  luy  mesme  pour  la 
plupart  dans  leur  pays,  tons  ces  peuples  entendant  L' Algonquine,  excepte  les 
Huronns,  que  ont  vue  langue  a  part  comme  aussi  les  Ouinipigou  ou  gens  de 
mer.''  The  year  of  Nicolet's  visit,  it  will  be  noticed,  is  left  undetermined. 
The  extract  only  shows  that  it  must  have  been  made  in  or  before  1639." 
Mr.  Butterfield  then  goes  on  to  show,  pretty  conclusively,  that  Nicolet 
made  his  voyage  to  the  northwest  in  ]634,  returning  thence  the  follow- 
ing year.  Mr.  Parkman,  however,  fixes  the  time  of  the  journey  be- 
tween 1635  and  1638,  and  Mr.  Shea  in  1639.  To  the  last  named  scholar 
is  ascribed  the  credit  of  having  been  the  first  to  identify  the  "  Ouinipi- 
gou, or  Gens  de  Mer,"  of  Father  Yimont  with  the  Winnebagoes.  See 
"  Nicolet's  Discovery  of  the  Northwest,"  by  C.  W.  Butterfield  (Cincinnati, 
1881),  pp.  42-45,  and  accompanying  notes. 


36  French  Discovery  of  the  Northwest. 

honor  of  discovery.  After  boldly  threading  his  course 
around  its  wild,  northern  shores  to  the  Bay  of  Noquet,  an 
arm  of  Green  Bay,  he  made  his  way  over  the  latter  to  the 
mouth  of  a  stream  flowing  in  from  the  west,  where  he  met 
a  tribe  of  Indians  called  the  Menominees.  From  thence  he 
resumed  his  voyage  up  Green  Bay  toward  the  Winnebagoes, 
who,  having  received  word  of  his  coming,  had  sent  a  num- 
ber of  their  young  braves  to  meet  him  and  escort  him  to 
their  villages. 

Nicolet  found  the  Winnebagoes  to  be  a  numerous  peo- 
ple, living  in  bark  and  skin  covered  lodges,  and  speaking  a 
guttural  language  radically  different  from  that  of  the  Huron 
and  Algonquin  Indians.  They  belonged  to  the  great  fam- 
ily of  the  Sioux  or  Dakotas,  and  were  the  only  branch  of 
that  stock  who  dwelt  so  far  eastward  of  the  Missis- 
sippi. Nicolet's  arrival  created  a  great  sensation  among 
the  Winnebagoes,  for  he  was  the  first  white  man  to  visit 
them,  and  four  or  five  thousand  of  the  tribe  assembled  to 
greet  him.  Each  of  the  principal  chiefs  gave  a  feast  in 
his  honor,  at  one  of  which  a  hundred  and  twenty  beavers 
are  said  to  have  been  served.  On  taking  leave  of  the 
Winnebagoes,  he  journeyed  for  six  days  up  Fox  River, 
and  thence  passed  through  Lake  Winnebago  to  the  homes 
of  the  Maskoutens,  or  Mascoutins,  who  afterward  became 
banded  with  the  Miamis.  It  seems  that  the  Sauks  and 
Foxes  had  not  as  yet  migrated  from  the  East  to  this  sec- 
tion of  the  country.  Hearing  from  the  Mascoutins  of  a 
nation  called  the  Illinois,  we  are  told  that  he  continued  his 
progress  southward  and  visited  some  of  the  villages  of 
that  people.  While  exploring  the  Fox  River,  he  also 
heard  of  the  Wisconsin ;  but  as  the  account  given  by  him 
of  this  tributary  of  the  Mississippi  is  vague  and  confused, 
it  is  by  no  means  certain  that  he  either  saw  or  navigated 
any  part  of  it. 

"  It  has  been  extensively  published,"  says  Mr.  Butter- 
field,  "that  Nicolet  did  reach  the  Wisconsin,  and  float 
down  its  channel  to  within  three  days  (sail)  of  the  Missis- 
sippi. Now  Nicolet,  in  speaking  of  a  large  river  upon 
which  he  had  sailed,  evidently  intended  to  convey  the  idea 


Jean  Nicolet.  37 

of  its  being  connected  with  the  lake,  that  is,  with  Green 
Bay.  Hence  he  must  have  spoken  of  Fox  River.  But 
Vimont  (Relation,  1640,  page  36)  understood  him  as  saying 
that  had  he  sailed  three  more  days  on  a  great  river  which 
flows  from  that  lake,  he  would  have  found  the  sea,"  or 
"great  water"  of  the  Indians. 

On  his  return  trip,  Nicolet  stopped  to  form  the 
acquaintance  of  the  Poutouatamis  (Pottaw atomies),  who 
occupied  the  islands  in  the  mouth  of  Green  Bay,  and  there 
met  with  a  friendly  reception.  Shortly  after  arriving  at 
Quebec  from  his  tour  to  the  far  west,  he  was  sent  to  the 
Three  Rivers,  where  he  resumed  and  continued  his  duties 
as  commissary  and  Indian  interpreter. 

On  the  22d  of  October,  1637,  Jean  Mcolet  was  mar- 
ried in  Quebec  to  Marguerite  Couillard,  a  god-child  of  Sam- 
uel de  Champlain,  and  by  this  union  became  the  father  of 
one  child,  a  daughter.  Four  years  later  (1641),  he  was 
associated  with  Father  Paul  Ragueneau  in  making  a  treaty 
with  a  large  band  of  the  Iroquois,  who,  having  entered 
Canada,  were  threatening  the  post  of  Three  Rivers. 

"About  the  first  of  October,  1642,  he  was  called  down 
to  Quebec  to  take  the  place  of  his  brother-in-law,  Olivier  de 
Tardiff,  who  was  general  commissary  of  the  Hundred 
Partners  or  Associates,  and  who  sailed  on  the  7th  of  that 
month  to  Old  France.  The  change  was  very  agreeable  to 
Nicolet,  but  he  did  not  enjoy  it  long;  for  in  less  than  a 
month  after  his  arrival,  in  endeavoring  to  make  a  trip  to 
his  former  place  of  residence,  to  release  an  Indian  prisoner 
in  possession  of  a  band  of  Algonquins  who  were  slowly 
torturing  him,  his  zeal  and  humanity  cost  him  his  life. 
On  the  27th  of  October,  he  embarked  at  Quebec,  near  7 
o'clock  in  the  evening,  in  the  launch  of  M.  de  Savigny, 
which  was  headed  for  Three  Rivers.  He  had  not  yet 
reached  Sillery  (four  miles  above  Quebec),  when  a  north- 
east squall  raised  a  terrible  tempest  on  the  St.  Lawrence, 
and  filled  the  boat.  Those  in  it  did  not  immediately 
drown.  Nicolet  had  time  to  say  to  M.  de  Savigny,  '  Save 
yourself,  sir,  you  can  swim ;  I  can  not.  I  am  going  to 
God ;  I  recommend  to  you  my  wife  and  daughter.'  The 


38  French  Discover  of  the  Northwest. 

wild  waves  tore  the  men  one  after  another  from  the  boat, 
which  had  capsized  and  floated  against  a  rock ;  and  four 
of  the  number,  including  Nicolet,  sank  to  rise  no  more."  * 

Thus  was  overwhelmed  in  the  surging  billows  of  the 
St.  Lawrence,  while  on  an  errand  of  Christian  charity,  the 
Sieur  Jean  Nicolet,  the  first  European,  whose  slender  canoe 
cleaved  the  limpid  waters  of  Lake  Michigan,  and  the  first  who 
is  known  to  have  set  foot  in  the  level  prairies  of  Southern 
Wisconsin.  His  untimely  death  was  regretted  in  common 
by  his  countrymen  and  the  red  men.  The  story  of  his  ad- 
venturous yet  useful  life  has  been  worthily  written,  and  his 
memory  survives  in  the  name  of  a  county  and  town  in 
Lower  Canada. 

It  may  seem  strange  that  the  Mississippi  River,  drain- 
ing as  it  does  the  heart  of  the  continent,  should  have  re- 
mained so  long  unknown  throughout  its  course  to  the 
English  colonists  on  the  Atlantic  seaboard;  but  they 
evinced  no  early  disposition  to  venture  beyond  the  moun- 
tains that  walled  them  in  on  the  west.  The  vague  story  of 
an  English  voyage  up  the  great  river  in  1648,  has  found 
some  advocates,  though  it  is  quite  improbable,  considering 
the  fact  that  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  was  then  a  closed  sea  to 
all  European  vessels  save  the  Spanish.  In  a  book,  descrip- 
tive of  the  Province  of  Carolina,  published  by  Dr.  Daniel 
Coxe,  in  London,  in  1727,  it  is  affirmed  that  a  certain  Col- 
onel Wood,  residing  at  the  Falls  of  James  River,  Virginia, 
discovered  different  branches  of  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi 
Rivers  between  the  years  1654  and  1664.  "  It  is  possible, 
however  (says  Col.  R.  T.  Durrett,  in  his  elaborate  historical 
address  on  the  anniversary  of  Kentucky's  Centennial  of  State- 
hood), that  Dr.  Coxe  has  credited  Col.  Wood  with  an  ex- 
ploration that  was  made  by  Captain  Thomas  Batts,  at  a  little 
later  date.  In  1671,  Gen.  Abraham  Wood,  by  the  authority 
of  Governor  Berkeley,  sent  Captain  Batts  with  a  party  of 
explorers  to  the  west  of  the  Appalachian  Mountains,  in 
search  of  a  river  that  might  lead  across  the  continent  to- 


*"  Discovery  of  the  Northwest  by  Jean  Nicolet;  with  a  Sketch  of 
his  Life  and  Explorations."    By  C.  W.  Butterfield,  pp.  82-84. 


English  Attempts  to  Reach,  the  Mississippi.  39 

ward  China.  The  journal  of  their  route  is  rendered  ob- 
scure by  meager"  descriptions,  and  the  change  of  names 
since  it  was  written ;  but  it  is  possible  that  they  went  to 
the  Roanoke,  and,  ascending  it  to  its  headwaters,  crossed 
over  to  the  sources  of  the  Kanawha,  which  they  descended," 
probably  to  the  Ohio.  But  it  does  not  appear  that  either 
of  those  Virginia  explorers  ever  penetrated  beyond  the  re- 
gion of  the  Upper  Ohio. 

In  the  meantime,  however,  the  French  Jesuits  and  fur- 
traders  were  pushing  deeper  and  farther  into  the  wilder- 
ness of  the  northern  lakes.  About  the  year  1634,  three 
Jesuit  priests,  Brebeuf,  Daniel  and  Lalemant,  planted  a 
mission  among  the  Hurons  on  the  shores  of  Lake  Simcoe, 
and  another  on  the  southeastern  border  of  Lake  Huron. 
In  1641  the  Fathers,  Isaac  Jogues  and  Charles  Raymbault, 
embarked  upon  the  Georgian  Bay  of  Lake  Huron,  for  the 
Sault  de  Ste  Marie,  where  they  arrived  after  a  tedious  canoe 
passage  of  seventeen  days.  They  were  met  there  by  a  con- 
course of  some  two  thousand  natives  (probably  Ojibwas), 
who  had  been  apprised  of  their  coming,  and  to  whom  they 
proclaimed  the  mysteries  of  the  Romish  faith.  Father 
Raymbault  died  in  the  wilderness  in  1642,  while  pursuing 
his  missionary  labors  and  discoveries.  The  same  year, 
Jogues  and  Bressani  were  captured  and  tortured  by  the  In- 
dians. Then  followed  the  havoc  and  destruction  of  an  Iro- 
quois  war,  by  which  the  Jesuit  missions  were  broken  up, 
and  many  of  their  priests  were  either  tortured  or  put  to 
death.  "  Literally  did  those  zealous  missionaries  '  take 
their  lives  in  their  hands,'  and  lay  them  a  willing  sacrifice 
on  the  altar  of  their  faith." 

For  a  number  of  years,  therefore,  all  further  French 
exploration  was  arrested.  "At  length,  in  1658,  two  daring 
traders  penetrated  to  Lake  Superior,  wintered  there,  and 
brought  back  tales  of  the  ferocious  Sioux,  and  of  a  great 
western  river  on  which  they  dwelt.  Two  years  later  (1660), 
the  aged  Jesuit  (Rene),  Menard,*  attempted  to  plant  a  mis- 

*  Recent  publications,"  says  the  late  John  Gilmary  Shea,  "have 
placed  a  Jesuit  mission  on  the  lake  (Superior),  and  even  on  the  Missis- 
sippi, as  early  as  1653 ;  but  the  Relations  have  not  the  slightest  allusion 


40  French  Discovery  of  the  Northwest. 

sion  on  the  southern  shore  of  that  lake,  but  perished  in  the 
forest  by  famine  or  the  tomahawk.  Allouez  succeeded  him, 
explored  a  part  of  Lake  Superior,  and  heard  in  his  turn  of 
the  Sioux  and  their  great  river,  the  'Mesissipi.'  More  and 
more  the  thoughts  of  the  Jesuits,  and  not  of  the  Jesuits 
alone,  dwelt  on  this  mysterious  stream.  Through  what  re- 
gions did  it  flow,  and  whither  would  it  lead  them — to  the 
South  Sea,  or  the  Sea  of  Virginia;  to  Mexico,  Japan,  or 
China?  The  problem  was  soon  to  be  solved,  and  the  mys- 
tery revealed."* 

The  different  enterprises  of  the  Jesuits  and  fur-traders 
having  made  known  the  country  of  the  northwest,  the 
French-Canadian  officials  took  steps  to  extend  over  it  the 
jurisdiction  and  authority  of  the  King  of  France.  Pursu- 
ant to  this  end,  on  September  3,  1670,  Jean  Talon,f  the  ac- 
tive and  able  t  intendant  of  New  France,  selected  and  com- 
missioned Simon  Francois  Daumont,  Sieur  de  St.  Lusson, 
as  his  deputy  to  go  in  search  of  copper  mines,  and  to  hold 
a  general  conference  with  the  indigenous  tribes  about  the 
outlet  of  Lake  Superior.  To  avoid  any  pecuniary  outlay 
on  the  part  of  the  provincial  government,  the  resources  of 
which  were  rather  limited,  it  was  arranged  that  St.  Lusson 
should  remunerate  himself  for  the  expenses  of  his  expedi- 
tion by  trading  with  the  Indians.  He  set  out  from  Quebec 

to  the  fact,  and  speak  of  Menard  as  the  first.  The  Jesuits  named  (Father 
Dug6rre  and  others)  as  being  concerned  are  not  mentioned  in  the  jour- 
nal of  the  superior  of  the  mission,  nor  in  any  printed  Relation,  nor  in 
Ducreux,  nor  in  Le  Clercq.  The  fact  of  a  mission  at  Tamaroa  prior  to 
Marquette's  is  perfectly  incompatible  with  the  Relations,  and  if  estab- 
lished would  destroy  their  authority." — Shea's  History  of  the  Discovery 
and  Exploration  of  the  Mississippi  Valley  (N.  Y.,  1853),  p.  23,  note. 
*Parkman's  Introduction  to  his  "  La  Salle  and  the  Great  West." 
t  Jean  Baptiste  Talon  was  the  second  intendant  of  New  France,  and 
the  first,  we  believe,  under  the  royal  government  of  the  country,  which 
prospered  under  his  administration.  He  was  intendant,  or  rather  su- 
perintendent of  justice,  police,  and  finance — the  position  being  next  in 
rank  and  dignity  to  that  of  governor.  He  was  first  appointed  to  this 
office  in  1663,  and  served  till  1668,  and  again  from  1670  to  1672,  when  he 
returned  to  Old  France  and  accepted  the  position  of  principal  secretary 
in  the  king's  household.  Talon  was  born  in  Picardy  in  1625,  and  died 
at  Versailles  in  1691.  His  portrait  in  oil  is  preserved  in  the  Hotel-Dieu 
of  Quebec,  and  presents  him  as  a  handsome  and  courtly  gentleman. 


St.  Lusson' s  Conference  with  Western  Tribes.  41 

with  a  company  of  fifteen  men,  in  several  canoes,  taking  a 
full  supply  of  goods  and  other  needed  articles,  and  was  ac- 
companied by  Nicholas  Perrot  as  Indian  interpreter. 

According  to  Parkman,  few  names  are  more  conspicu- 
ous in  the  annals  of  the  early  Canadian  voyageurs  than  that 
of  Perrot ;  not  because  of  the  superiority  of  his  achieve- 
ments over  those  of  many  others,  but  for  the  reason  that  he 
could  write,  and  left  behind  him  a  tolerable  record  of  what 
he  had  seen  and  done.  Like  Nicolet,  Perrot  was  a  man  of 
undoubted  courage  and  address,  and  exhibited  both  of  these 
qualities  in  his  dealings  with  'the  various  tribes  of  red  men. 
He  was  now  about  twenty-six  years  of  age,  and  had  pre- 
viously been  in  the  employ  of  the  Jesuits. 

The  Sieur  de  St.  Lusson  and  party  wintered  on  or  near 
the  Manatoulin  Islands,  in  the  northern  part  of  Huron  Lake, 
and  occupied  the  time  in  hunting  and  bartering  with  the 
natives  for  their  furs.  Meanwhile  Perrot,  after  first  send- 
ing messages  to  the  tribes  of  the  north,  inviting  them  to 
meet  the  deputy  of  the  Canadian  intendant  at  Sault  de  Ste 
Marie  in  the  ensuing  spring,  continued  his  voyage  west- 
ward to  Green  Bay,  and  pressed  the  same  invitation  on  the 
Indian  nations  inhabiting  that  ulterior  region.  Flattered 
by  his  visit  and  personal  attentions,  they  all  promised  to 
send  deputations  as  requested.  Accordingly,  in  the  spring 
of  1671,  the  principal  chiefs  of  the  Pottawatomies  (who  also 
undertook  to  represent  the  Miamis  in  the  absence  of  their 
own  old  chief),  the  Menominees,  Winnebagoes  and  Sacs, 
set  oft  in  their  light  canoes,  and  paddled  their  way  over 
the  watery  plains  to  the  Sault,  whither  they  arrived  about 
the  5th  of  May.  St.  Lusson  and  his  Frenchmen  were  there 
in  advance  to  receive  them.  The  Indians  of  the  surround- 
ing country  now  came  flocking  in  from  their  hunting 
grounds,  attracted  in  part  by  the  fisheries  at  the  rapids, 
and  partly  by  the  polite  messages  of  Perrot.  They  com- 
prised the  Crees,  Monsonies,  Amikoues,  Nipissings,  and 
sundry  other  petty  tribes,  with  names  too  barbarous  to  be 
written. 

When  the  representatives  of  some  fourteen  tribes  had 
arrived,  and  after  the  usual  feasting  and  sleeps,  St.  Lusson 


42  French  Discovery  of  the  Northwest. 

prepared  to  execute  the  special  commission  with  which  he 
had  been  charged.  Accordingly,  on  the  14th  of  June,  in 
presence  of  the  assembled  Indians  and  Frenchmen,  includ- 
ing four  Jesuit  priests*  in  the  vestments  of  their  office,  he 
proceeded  to  take  formal  possession,  in  the  king's  name,  of 
Sainte  Marie  du  Sault,  as  also  of  Lakes  Huron  and  Supe- 
rior, the  Manatoulin  Islands,  and  all  the  countries,  lakes, 
rivers  and  streams,  contiguous  or  adjacent  thereto.  A  tall 
wooden  cross  was  now  erected,  for  the  adoration  of  the 
natives,  and  close  by  its  side  was  planted  a  stout  cedar  post, 
to  which  was  affixed  a  metal  plate  engraven  with  the  royal 
arms  of  the  Bourbons.  A  hymn  was  then  sung,  and  one 
of  the  Jesuit  priests  offered  up  a  prayer  for  the  King  of 
France;  after  which  the  Frenchmen  discharged  their  mus- 
kets and  cried  vim  le  roi.  When  these  formalities  were 
ended,  Father  Allouez  addressed  the  Indians  in  a  solemn 
harangue  in  their  own  language,  to  which  they  stolidly  lis- 
tened while  smoking  their  stone  pipes.  Soon  after  the 
French  party  had  left  the  place  of  assembly,  some  of  those 
copper-hued  sons  of  the  forest  removed  the  metallic  plate 
from  the  post  to  which  it  had  been  nailed,  and  appropriated 
it  to  their  own  use.  This  was  done,  says  Mr.  Parkman, 
not  so  much  from  any  knowledge  of  the  true  import  of  the 
plate,  as  from  their  superstitious  fear  of  its  influence  as  a 
charm.  But  the  general  effect  of  this  notable  convocation 
and  conference  with  the  indigenous  tribes  of  the  northwest 
was  favorable  to  the  French  commercial  and  political  inter- 
ests, as  well  as  to  their  designs  for  the  future  exploration 
of  the  great  river  and  regions  beyond.  As  a  part  of  the 
history  of  this  expedition,  it  is  stated  that  the  costly  pres- 
ents made  by  St.  Lusson  to  the  Indian  chiefs,  and  other 
necessary  expenses,  were  more  than  repaid  by  the  gifts  of 
valuable  furs  which  he  received  from  them  in  return. 


*The  names  of  these  priests  were,  Claude  Dablon,  superior  of  the 
missions  on  the  upper  lakes ;  Gabriel  Dreuilletes,  Claude  Allouez,  and 
Louis  Andre.  Louis  Joliet  is  mentioned  as  among  the  Frenchmen 
present  on  the  occasion.  Marquette  was  away  at  the  Mission  of  St. 
Esprit,  on  Lake  Superior,  but  was  compelled  to  abandon  it  during  that 
year. 


Other  French  Enterprises.  43 

It  is  deserving  of  mention  here,  that  two  years  before 
this  time,  La  Salle,  then  a  young  and  little  known  man, 
had  projected  the  discovery  of  the  Mississippi.  In  July, 
1669,  he  undertook,  at  his  own  expense,  a  journey  to  the 
southwest  for  that  purpose.  Proceeding  with  a  company 
from  Montreal  up  the  St.  Lawrence,  and  through  Lake 
Ontario  to  Lake  Erie,  he  thence  rambled  southward  and 
discovered  the  Ohio  River,  which  he  followed  down  to  the 
falls  or  rapids  at  what  is  now  Louisville.  A  year  or  two 
after  his  return  from  this  expedition,  he  is  said  to  have 
ascended  the  great  lakes,  and,  pushing  on  to  and  beyond 
the  southern  extremity  of  Lake  Michigan,  discovered  the 
Illinois  River,  or  one  of  its  constituent  branches.  But  of 
this,  more  hereafter. 

Such,  in  general,  was  the  progress  of  French  explora- 
tion in  the  interior  of  this  continent,  and  such  was  still  the 
limited  state  of  their  geographical  knowledge  in  regard  to 
the  Mississippi  River  and  its  tributaries,  down  to  the  time 
of  Joliet's  and  Marquette's  voyage  of  discovery  in  1673 ; 
prior  to  which  it  is  not  known  that  any  "  pale  face "  had 
ever  reached,  or  looked  upon,  the  main  trunk  of  that  liquid 
highway,  above  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio.* 


Father  Claude  Dablon,  whose  name  finds  repeated  mention  in  these 
pages,  merits  something  more  than  a  passing  notice.  He  came  as  a 
missionary  to  Canada  in  1655,  and  was  at  once  sent  to  Onondaga  (New 
York),  where  he  remained,  with  one  short  interval  of  absence,  until  the 
mission  there  was  broken  up  in  1658.  Three  years  later,  he  and  Gabriel 
Dreuilletes  attempted  to  reach  Hudson's  Bay,  by  the  Saguenay  River, 
but  were  stopped  at  the  sources  of  the  Nekouba  by  Iroquois  war  par- 
ties. In  1668,  Dablon  followed  Father  Marquette  to  the  foot  of  Lake 
Superior,  assisted  in  founding  the  mission  of  Sault  de  Ste.  Marie,  visited 
Green  Bay,  and,  in  company  with  Father  Allouez,  reached  the  sources 
of  the  Wisconsin.  Returning  thence1  to  Quebec,  he  was  made  superior 
of  all  the  Canadian  missions,  and  held  this  office  with  intervals  till 


*  It  is  claimed  that  one  Pierre  Esprit  Radison,  a  noted  voyageur  and 
trader,  reached  the  Upper  Mississippi  in  1658-59 ;  but,  if  so,  he  never 
gave  the  world  the  benefit  of  his  discovery.  An  account  of  hie  alleged 
explorations  has  been  published  somewhat  recently. 


44  Father  Dablon. 

about  1693.    He  was  still  alive  in  1694,  but  the  year  of  his  death  is 
unknown. 

As  the  head  of  the  Jesuit  missions,  Father  Dablon  contributed  in 
no  small  degree  to  their  extension,  and,  above  all,  to  the  exploration  of 
the  Mississippi  by  Marquette  and  Joliet.  He  published  the  Relations 
of  1670-'71,  and  72,  with  their  accompanying  map  of  Lake  Superior, 
and  prepared  for  the  press  those  of  1672-73,  and  1673-79,  which,  to- 
gether with  his  narratives  of  Marquette  and  Allouez,  remained  a  long 
while  in  manuscript,  for  the  reason  that  the  publication  of  the  Rela- 
tions was  interdicted  in  1673.  He  was  versed  alike  in  the  learning  of 
the  cloister  and  in  the  mysteries  of  the  forest,  and,  according  to  Dr. 
Shea,  his  writings  comprise  the  most  valuable  collection  of  topography 
of  the  northwest,  which  have  come  down  to  our  day. 


Talon  and  Front enac.  45 


CHAPTER  III. 

1673-1675. 
THE    GREAT    RIVER    VOYAGE    OF    JOLIET    AND    MARQUETTE. 

To  Jean  Talon,  the  able  and  enterprising  intendaiit, 
already  referred  to,  belongs  the  chief  credit  of  having  ini- 
tiated the  movement  for  the  French  discovery  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi. To  effect  this  long  desired  object,  he  selected 
Louis  Joliet,  of  Quebec,  to  conduct  the  expedition,  with 
one  of  the  Jesuit  priests  for  his  companion  and  assistant. 
But  M.  Talon  did  not  remain  in  Canada  long  enough  to 
witness  the  completion  of  the  bold  undertaking  which  he 
had  projected,  and  which  was  prolific  of  such  important 
and  far-reaching  results.  Owing  to  repeated  disagree- 
ments between  himself  and  Governor  Courcelles,  in  regard 
to  the  jurisdiction  of  their  respective  offices,  both  requested 
to  be  and  were  recalled.  Failing  health  was  also  assigned 
as  a  reason  for  the  governor's  retirement.  It  is  not  im- 
probable that  the  intendant,  as  the  more  brainy  and  ener- 
getic man  of  the  two,  had  trenched  upon  the  governor's  au- 
thority. 

Not  long  afterward,  in  the  autumn  of  1672,  Louis  de 
Buade,  Comte  de  Palluau  et  Frontenac  was  sent  out  to  Can- 
ada as  the  successor  of  Courcelles.  Count  Frontenac  be- 
longed to  the  high  noblesse  of  France,  and  was  the  ninth 
governor  of  the  colony  after  Champlain.  He  was  now 
somewhat  past  middle  life,  and  said  to  be  broken  in  for- 
tune ;  but  he  was  a  man  of  rare  accomplishments,  experi- 
enced in  statecraft,  and  endowed  with  uncommon  adminis- 
trative ability.  Although  haughty  and  intolerant  toward 
his  enemies,  he  was  ardently  devoted  to  his  friends ;  while 
his  courtly  manners  and  brilliant  conversation  made  him  a 
favorite  and  an  ornament  of  the  most  cultivated  circles. 
His  powers,  as  chief  executive,  were  derived  directly  from 


46  Louis  Joliet. 

the  crown,  and  were  absolute  within  the  sphere  of  his  ju- 
risdiction, though  partly  checked  by  those  of  the  intend- 
ant.  His  government  was  aggressive  and  stormy,  and  was 
beset  by  strong  opposition  and  enmity,  which  eventuated, 
after  ten  years,  in  his  recall  by  the  king.  But  when  the 
colony  had  been  brought  to  the  verge  of  ruin  under  the 
weak  administrations  of  LaBarre  and  DeNonville,  Fronte- 
nac  was  reinstated  in  1689,  and  the  closing  term  of  his 
official  life  was  crowned  with  success,  and  with  the  plaudits 
of  his  countrymen,  He  died  in  Quebec  in  1698,  at  an  ad- 
vanced age,  and  was  interred  in  the  Church  of  the  Recollet 
Fathers,  to  whom  he  was  warmly  attached. 

But  to  resume  our  principal  theme.  Upon  the  recom- 
mendation of  Talon,  before  his  final  departure  for  France, 
Governor  Frontenac  charged  Joliet  with  the  conduct  of 
the  exploration  of  the  Mississippi,  "  as  being  a  man  ex- 
perienced in  this  kind  of  discovery,  and  who  had  been  al- 
ready very  near  that  river."  Apart  from  this  official 
sanction  of  the  enterprise,  about  all  the  aid  afforded  to  Jo- 
liet by  the  provincial  government,  was  one  assistant  and 
a  bark  canoe. 

Of  Louis  Joliet*  himself,  some  account  must  needs  be 
given  before  starting  him  on  his  great  exploration.  The 
son  of  Jean  Joliet,  an  humble  mechanic,  he  was  born  in 
Quebec,  September  21, 1645.  When  of  proper  age,  he  was 
put  to  school  at  the  Jesuit  Seminary  in  his  native  town. 
Here  he  made  excellent  progress  in  his  studies,  and  evinced 
a  special  taste  for  hydrography.  Completing  his  curriculum 
at  the  seminary  in  1666,  he  took  some  minor  orders  in 
the  church,  but  soon  discovered  that  he  had  no  call  to  the 
priesthood,  and  therefore  exchanged  the  cassock  for  the 
trader's  garb.  In  October,  1667,  he  appears  to  have  sailed 
to  France,  and  remained  there  until  the  next  year.  Enter- 
ing upon  his  new  career  in  the  spring  of  1669,  he  was  sent 
by  Intendant  Talon,  with  a  young  companion,  to  look  for 
copper  mines  in  the  wild,  western  region  of  Lake  Supe- 
rior, but  returned  without  success  from  this  mission.  He 

*This  surname  has    several   synonyms,  as  for   example,  Jollyet, 
Jolliet,  and  Joliette ;  but  it  is  usually  written  Joliet. 


Father  Marquette.  47 

further  appears  to  have  been  present  at  the  grand  council 
held  by  St.  Lusson  with  the  Northwestern  tribes,  in  the 
spring  of  1671 ;  but  whether  as  a  member  of  his  party  is 
undetermined. 

The  selection  of  Father  Marquette,  as  the  companion 
of  Joliet  in  the  proposed  exploration  of  the  Mississippi, 
seems  to  have  been  made  informally  on  the  recommenda- 
tion of  the  superior  general  of  the  Jesuits  at  Quebec.  He 
was  doubtless  chosen  on  account  of  his  known  zeal  for  the 
conversion  of  the  western  Indians,  and  his  proficiency  in 
the  languages  or  dialects  spoken  by  the  different  tribes. 
Jacques,  or  James_  Marquette  came  of  a  family  distin- 
guished in  the  walks  of  both  civil  and  military  life.  He 
was  cradled  in  the  ancient  town  of  Laon,  in  the  depart- 
ment of  Aisne,  France,  in  the  year  1637.  From  his  pious 
mother  (nee  Rose  de  la  Salle),  he  imbibed  an  ardent  and 
generous  temperament,  predisposed  alike  to  piety  and  be- 
nevolence. In  1654,  at  the  youthful  age  of  seventeen,  he 
voluntarily  joined  the  Society  of  Jesus,  of  which  he  was  to 
become  so  eminent  a  member.  After  two  years  of  studi- 
ous application,  he  was,  in  accordance  with  the  custom  of 
that  society,  employed  a  part  of  his  time  in  teaching,  and 
continued  in  the  faithful  performance  of  his  unosten- 
tatious duties  until  1666,  when  he  was  ordained  to  the 
Jesuit  priesthood.  No  sooner  had  he  been  invested  with 
this  sacred  character,  than  he  showed  an  inclination  to  go 
upon  a  foreign  mission ;  but  the  ecclesiastical  Province  of 
Champagne,  in  which  he  was  enrolled,  embraced  no  such 
mission.  He  was  therefore  transferred  to  the  Province  of 
France,  and  in  the  summer  of  that  same  year  (1666)  sailed 
to  Canada,  arriving  at  Quebec  on  the  20th  of  September. 

Marquette  was  now  twenty-nine  years  old,  and  buoy- 
ant with  life,  health  and  hope.  At  first  he  was  destined 
by  his  superiors  to  the  mission  among  the  Montagnais 
Indians,  in  the  Valley  of  the  St.  Lawrence;  and  on  the 
10th  of  October  he  started  from  Quebec  for  Three  Rivers, 
to  begin  the  study  of  that  language  under  the  instruction 
of  Father  Gabriel  Dreuilletes.  He  remained  there  until 
April,  1668,  when,  his  original  destination  having  been 


48  Great  River  Voyage. 

changed,  he  was  ordered  to  prepare  for  the  Ottawa  mis- 
sion. In  the  meantime  he  had  acquired  a  fair  knowledge 
of  the  Algonquin  tongue,  and  was  thus  qualified  for  enter- 
ing his  new  field  of  labor.  While  waiting  at  Montreal  for 
the  departure  of  the  Ottawa  flotilla,  he  met  a  party  of  the 
Nez  Perce  or  Beaver  Indians,  who  were  returning  to  their 
home  in  the  northwest.  Setting  out  with  them,  he  jour- 
neyed up  the  river  Ottawa,  through  Lake  Nipissing  and 
down  French  River  to  Lake  Huron,  and  thence  around  its 
northern  shore  to  the  outlet  of  Lake  Superior.  Here,  in 
company  with  Claude  Dablon,  a  zealous  and  intrepid 
brother  Jesuit,  he  •'founded  the  mission  of  St.  Mary  of  the 
Falls,  otherwise  known  as  Sault  de  Ste  Marie.  After 
building  a  log  house  and  chapel,  and  converting  a  number 
of  the  savages  to  an  outward  belief  in  Christianity,  Mar- 
quette  was  directed  to  proceed  to  La  Pointe  St.  Esprit, 
situated  on  the  Bay  of  Chegoimegon,  near  the  southwestern 
corner  of  Lake  Superior,  and  arrived  thither  September  13, 
1669.  At  this  far  westerly  point,  Father  Claude  Allouez 
had  established  a  Jesuit  mission  among  the  Chippewas  in 
1665,  and  with  it  was  opened  the  usual  French  trading 
post.  It  was  from  representatives  of  the  different  south- 
western tribes,  and  particularly  from  the  Illinois,  who  came 
hither  to  barter  their  furs  and  skins,  that  Father  Marquette 
first  learned  of  the  grand  river,  of  unknown  length,  which 
took  its  rise  in  several  lakes  in  the  country  of  the  far  north, 
and  flowed  southward  past  their  hunting  grounds,  and 
which  they  called  "Mechisipi,"  or  "Mesissipi,"  meaning 
"Great  River"  or  "Father  of  Waters."  The  information 
thus  derived  inspired  the  benevolent  heart  of  the  priest 
with  an  ardent  desire  to  explore  that  mysterious  river,  and 
to  promulgate  the  gospel  to  the  pagan  dwellers  on  its 
banks. 

But  in  the  summer  of  1671,  he  was  obliged  to  with- 
draw, with  the  Huron  portion  of  his  flock,  from  his  station 
at  the  head  of  what  is  now  called  Ashland  Bay,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  increasing  hostility  of  the  Sioux,  a  fierce 
and  roving  people,*who  inhabited  the  grassy  plains  to  the 
southwest  of  LakeJ  Superior.  Returning  eastward  along 


Joliet  and  Marquette.  49 

the  southern  border  of  that  great  lake,  Marquette  next 
proceeded  to  found  the  mission  and  Indian  school  of  St. 
Ignatius,*  or  Ignace,  at  the  point  or  neck  of  land  on  the 
north  side  of  the  Straits  of  Michilimackinac,  now  called 
Mackinaw.f  During  the  ensuing  year,  he  appears  to  have 
visited,  with  Fathers  Allouez  and  Dablon,  the  western 
shores  of  Lake  Michigan,  and  to  have  proclaimed  the 
Faith  to  the  friendly  tribes  in  that  region. 

It  was  on  the  8th  of  December,  1672,  that  the  Sieur 
Joliet  arrived  from  Quebec  at  the  palisaded  mission-house 
of  Point  de  St.  Ignace,  with  instructions  from  Gov.  Fronte- 
nac  to  take  Pere  Marquette  as  a  companion  on  his  expedi- 
tion for  discovering  the  Mississippi.  The  Father's  journal 
of  the  same  opens  with  the  following  pious  reference  to 
Joliet's  arrival : 

"The  day  of  the  Immaculate  Conception  of  the  Holy 
Virgin ;  whom  I  had  continually  invoked,  since  coming  to 
this  country  of  the  Ottawas,  to  obtain  from  God  the  favor 
of  being  enabled  to  visit  the  nations  on  the  river  Missis- 
sippi— this  very  day  was  precisely  that  on  which  M.  Joliet 
arrived  with  orders  from  Count  Frontenac,  our  governor, 
and  M.  Talon,  our  intendant,  to  go  with  him  on  this  dis- 
covery. I  was  all  the  more  delighted  at  this  news,  because 
I  saw  my  plans  about  to  be  accomplished,  and  found  my- 
self in  the  happy  necessity  of  exposing  my  life  for  the 
salvation  of  all  those  tribes,  and  especially  the  Illinois, 
who,  when  I  was  at  St.  Esprit,  had  begged  me  very  earn- 
estly to  bring  the  word  of  God  among  them." 

During  the  ensuing  winter,  Messieurs  Joliet  and  Mar- 
quette made  the  necessary  preparations  for  their  journey. 
"  We  took  all  possible  precautions,"  writes  Marquette, 
"  that  if  our  enterprise  was  hazardous,  it  should  not  be 
fool-hardy.  For  this  reason  we  gathered  all  possible  in- 
formation from  the  Indians  who  had  frequented  those 

*  So  named  after  the  father  of  the  Jesuit  order. 

tMackinac  and  Mackinaw  are  diminutives  or  contractions  of  the 
Indian  word  Missilimakinac,  which,  according  to  Lippincot's  gazetteer, 
should  be  pronounced  Mish-il-e-mak-e-naw. 
4 


50  Ghreat  River  Voyage  of 

parts,  and  from  their  accounts  traced  a  map  of  all  the  new 
country,  marking  down  the  rivers  on  which  we  were  to 
sail,  the  names  of  the  nations  through  which  we  were  to 
pass,  the  course  of  the  great  river,  and  what  direction  we 
should  take  when  we  got  to  it."  This  rude  map  was  after- 
ward revised  by  the  priest,  who  also  entered  all  facts  of 
value  in  his  note-book. 

On  the  17th  of  May,  1673,  according  to  the  Gregorian 
calendar,  the  explorers  set  out  from  Saint  Ignace  on  their 
perilous  voyage.  They  embarked  in  two  light  yet  strong 
and  elastic  bark  canoes,  with  five  French  canoe-men  and 
men  of  all  work,  whose  names  we  are  unable  to  give.  For 
provisions,  they  carried  a  little  Indian  corn  and  some 
jerked  meat.  They  also  took  a  suitable  assortment  of 
goods  for  distribution  as  presents  among  the  natives  to  be 
met  on  the  way.  After  coasting  around  the  northern 
curve  of  Lake  Michigan — a  wilderness  region  then,  and 
practically  a  wilderness  still — they  entered  the  little  river 
Menominee,  which  puts  into  Green  Bay  from  the  north- 
west, to  visit,  a  tribe  called  the  Folle  Avoine,  from  the  wild 
oats  or  rice  found  growing  along  that  stream,  and  upon  which 
the}7  largely  subsisted.  The  Jesuit  missionaries  had  preached 
the  Faith  to  these  Indians  for  three  or  four  years,  so  that  they 
were  accounted  "  very  good  Christians."  When  informed 
of  Marquette's  design  of  going  to  discover  distant  tribes,  to 
instruct  them  in  the  mysteries  of  his  holy  religion,  they  were 
much  surprised,  and  did  all  they  could  to  dissuade  him. 

"  They  represented,"  according  to  his  journal,  "that  he 
would  encounter  those  nations  who  never  pardon  strangers, 
but  kill  without  remorse  and  without  cause ;  that  the  wars 
which  had  broken  out  between  different  people,  who 
would  be  upon  our  route,  would  expose  us  to  the  manifest 
danger  of  being  carried  off  by  some  of  the  bands  of  war- 
riors who  are  always  in  the  field;  that  the  great  river  is 
very  dangerous,  when  the  channel  is  not  known ;  that  it  is 
full  of  hideous  monsters,  who  devour  altogether  men  and 
canoes ;  that  there  was  also  a  demon,  whom  they  could  see 
from  a  great  distance,  who  closed  the  passage  of  the  river 
and  destroyed  those  who  dared  to  approach  him ;  and,  in 


Joliet  and  Marquette.  51 

conclusion,  that  the  heats  were  so  excessive  that  we  should 
meet  death  inevitably." 

In  reply,  Marquette  thanked  them  for  their  good  ad- 
vice, but  said  that  he  could  not  follow  it,  since  the  salvation 
of  souls  influenced  him,  for  which  he  would  gladly  give  up 
his  life.  He  ridiculed  their  pretended  demon,  and  told 
them  that  he  and  his  companions  could  protect  themselves 
from  the  marine  monsters,  and  would  keep  on  their  guard 
to  avoid  the  other  dangers  threatened. 

After  praying  with  and  giving  these  poor  Indians  some 
instructions,  the  good  father  and  his  French  companions 
separated  from  them  and  crossed  the  bay  to  the  mission  of 
St.  Francis  Xavier,  which  had  been  principally  founded  by 
Father  Allouez  in  1669,  and  was  located  on  that  narrow 
tongue  of  land  running  up  between  Green  Bay  *  and  Lake 
Michigan.  Quitting  this  missionary  station  early  in  June, 
the  voyagers  proceeded  southward  to  the  mouth  of  Fox 
River,  at  the  head  of  the  bay,  and  thence  up  that  river,  the 
rapids  of  which  were  surmounted  with  considerable  diffi- 
culty. They  next  crossed  Lake  Winnebago,  and  shortly 
came  to  a  village  of  the  Miamis,  Mascoutins,  and  Kicka- 
poos,  banded  together,  the  first  named  of  whom  were  the 
most  civil  and  liberal.  This  village  was  pleasantly  seated 
on  an  eminence  in  the  open  prairie.  It  was  then  the  limit 
of  French  exploration  in  that  quarter,  and  all  beyond  it 
was  a  terra  incognita.  Father  Marquette  was  rejoiced  to 
find  standing  in  the  village  a  handsome  cross,  adorned  with 
skins,  girdles,  bows  and  arrows,  which  these  simple  natives, 
had  made  as  offerings  to  their  Great  Manitou,f  "to  thank  him 
that  he  had  had  pity  on  them  during  the  winter  and  given 
them  a  profitable  hunt." 

"  .We  had  no  sooner  arrived,"  says  Marquette's  journal, 
•'  than  Mons.  Joliet  and  I  assembled  the  old  men  (of  the 
village).  I  said  to  them  {that  he  had  been  sent  on  the  part 
of  Monsieur,  our  governor,  to  discover  new  countries,  and 

*  The  French  first  named  this  large  arm  of  the  lake  Baie  des  Ptians, 
or  Stinking  Bay,  on  account  of  the  offensive  vapors  exhaled  from  its 
muddy  and  slimy  shores. 

t  A  word  used  by  the  Algonquin  tribes  to  signify  a  spirit,  good  or 
evil,  having  control  of  their  destinies. 


Oft    HP.  ILL.  y-J.  ILLINOIS 


52  Great  River  Voyage  of 

I  on  the  part  of  God  to  make  clear  to  them  the  lights  of 
the  gospel,  etc.,  .  .  .  and  that  we  had  occasion  for  two 
guides  to  conduct  us  on  our  route.  On  asking  them  to  ac- 
cord this  to  us,  we  made  them  a  present,  which  made  them 
very  civil,  and  at  the  same  time  they  voluntarily  answered 
us  by  a  present  in  return,  which  was  a  mat  to  serve  as  a 
bed  during  our  voyage.  The  next  day,  which  was  the  10th 
of  June,  the  two  Miamis  they  gave  us  for  guides  embarked 
with  us  in  sight  of  all  the  inhabitants,  who  could  not  but 
be  astonished  to  see  seven  Frenchmen,  alone  in  two  canoes, 
daring  to  undertake  an  expedition  so  extraordinary  and  so 
hazardous." 

Taking  a  southwesterly  course  through  the  labyrinth 
of  small  lakes  that  intersected  the  flat  surface  of  the  coun- 
try, the  explorers  soon  reached  the  water-shed  dividing  the 
waters  flowing  to  Lake  Michigan  from  those  falling  into  the 
Mississippi.  On  their  arrival  at  the  portage  to  the  Mascon- 
sin,  Ouisconsing,  or  Wisconsin  River,  the  two  Miamis  guides 
helped  them  to  transport  their  canoes  and  luggage  across  it 
(a  distance  of  about  two  miles),  and  then  left  them  to  re- 
turn to  their  own  people.  Having  first  invoked  the  protec- 
tion of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  as  the  special  patroness  of  their  ex- 
pedition, the  Frenchmen  re-entered  their  canoes  and  glided 
down  the  shallow  channel  of  the  Wisconsin,  over  shoals  and 
through  rapids,  past  islets  covered  with  vines  and  under- 
brush, and  along  banks  of  alternating  timber  and  prairie, 
where  they  saw  many  deer  and  buffaloes  grazing. 

After  a  navigation  of  forty  or  more  French  leagues,* 
our  explorers  arrived,  without  accident,  at  the  discharge  of 
the  Wisconsin ;  and,  on  the  17th  of  June  (1673),  they  en- 
tered the  Mississippi,!  "  with  a  joy,"  writes  Marquette,  "  I 
can  not  express."  They  were  now  embarked  on  that  mys- 
terious river,  to  which  their  thoughts  had  been  so  long 


*The  common  French  league  is  equal  to  only  2.76-100  English  or 
statute  miles. 

tit  was  on  the  eastern  bank  of  the  Mississippi,  about  five  mi)es 
above  the  mouth  of  the  Wisconsin,  that  the  village  of  Prairie  du  Chien 
was  established  a  century  later  by  some  French  traders.  It  owed  its 
name  to  a  band  of  the  Fox  Indians,  called  the  "  Dog  Band,"  that  long 
resided  there. 


Joliet  and  Marquette,  53 

turned,  and  which  the  pious  priest  named  Riviere  de  la 
Conception ;  but  they  found  it  rather  narrow  at  the  point  of 
emergence,  and  elsewhere  o'f  varying  width.  For  the  en- 
suing week,  they  somewhat  leisurely  descended  the  noble 
stream,  attentively  observing  its  high,  bold  and  picturesque 
bluffs,  its  thickly  wooded  banks  and  islands,  clothed  in  the 
full  verdure  of  summer,  and  meeting  with  all  manner  of 
wild  birds,  beasts,  fishes  and  creeping  things,  but  seeing  no 
human  being.  At  night  they  went  ashore  and  prepared 
their  frugal  repast,  making  but  little  fire,  and  then  moored 
their  canoes  out  in  the  water,  and  some  one  of  the  party 
was  always  on  guard  for  fear  of  a  surprise. 

At  length,  on  the  25th  of  June,  having  advanced  over 
sixty  leagues,  and  being  in  latitude  below  forty-one  de- 
grees north,  the  voyagers  discovered  the  foot-prints  of  men 
in  the  sand  on  the  western  shore,  and  a  well-beaten  path 
leading  up  to  a  prairie  beyond.  Here  Joliet  and  Mar- 
quette left  their  canoes  in  the  care  of  their  men,  and 
started  out  to  reconnoiter.  Following  the  path  for  nearly 
two  leagues,  they  came  in  sight  of  an  Indian  village,  on 
the  banks  of  a  small  river  (supposed  to  be  the  Des  Moines), 
and  beyond  it,  upon  a  hill,  two  other  villages.  Approach- 
ing the  first,  they  piously  commended  themselves  to  God, 
and  uttered  a  loud  cry ;  on  hearing  which  the  savages  sal- 
lied out  of  their  cabins,  and,  apparently  recognizing  the 
two  Frenchmen  by  their  dark  robes,  sent  four  of  their  eld- 
ers to  meet  them.  The  inhabitants  of  these  villages  called 
themselves  llliniwe.k,  or  Illini,  that  is  to  say  "  men,"  or 
"  superior  men."  They  were  otherwise  known  as  Peou- 
areas  (Peorias),  and  Moingwenas,  and  belonged  to  a  loose 
confederation  of  five  or  six  tribes,  who  went  under  the 
general  appellation  of  the  Illini,  or  Illinois,*  and  whose 
principal  residence'  was  on  the  river  of  that  name,  east  of 
the  Mississippi.  Marquette  had  before  met  representatives 
of  this  nation  at  the  mission  of  St.  Esprit  on  Lake  Supe- 
rior, and  understood  their  language  (a  dialect  of  the  Al- 
gonquin) sufficiently  well  to  hold  conversation  with  them. 


*The  French  added  the  termination  "  ois  "  for  the  sake  of  euphony. 


54  Great  River  Voyage  of 

At  the  door  of  the  wigwam,  where  lie  and  Joliet  were 
at  first  received,  stood  an  old  man,  entirely  naked,  with  his 
hands  outstretched  toward  the  sun,  apparently  to  shade  his 
eyes.  When  they  drew  near  he  greeted  them  with  this 
friendly  and  fine  salutation  :  "  The  sun  is  beautiful,  French- 
men, when  thou  comest  to  visit  us ;  all  our  town  awaits 
thee,  and  thou  shalt  enter  in  peace  into  all  our  cabins." 
And  when  they  had  entered  therein,  he  softly  said:  "  It  is 
well,  my  brothers,  that  you  visit  us." 

After  exchanging  civilities  and  smoking  the  peace  cal- 
umet here,  the  visitors  were  conducted  to  the  village  of  the 
principal  chief  or  sachem,  who,  assisted  by  two  of  his  nude 
dignitaries,  extended  to  them  a  ceremonious  yet  cordial 
welcome.  In  this  gathering  of  the  chiefs  and  people,  whose 
curiosity  was  greatly  excited  by  the  presence  of  the  white 
men  among  them,  Marquette  after  first  making  them  four 
presents,  announced  the  mission  of  Mons.  Joliet  and  him- 
self. He  told  them  about  the  invisible  God  who  created 
them,  and  who  wished  to  reveal  himself  unto  them.  He 
then  spoke  of  the  great  Chief  of  the  French,  who  "  would 
have  them  know  that  it  was  he  who  had  produced  peace 
throughout,  and  had  subdued  the  Iroquois."  Finally,  he 
requested  them  to  give  him  all  the  knowledge  they  possessed 
in  regard  to  the  sea,  and  of  the  nations  through  whose  ter- 
ritories it  would  be  necessary  to  pass  before  reaching  it. 
In  his  reply,  the  Illinois  chief  could  give  his  visitors  but 
little  information  about  the  distant  sea ;  but  he  besought 
them  not  to  go  any  further,  because  of  the  great  dangers 
to  which  they  would  be  exposed,  Always  at  war  with  the 
surrounding  nations,  these  Indians  could  not  understand 
how  it  was  possible  for  the  Frenchmen  to  travel  in  safety 
from  one  section  of  the  country  to  another. 

The  council  and  speech-making  were  followed  by  a 
generous  feast  of  four  courses,  viz  :  Sagamittee,*  fish,  boiled 
dog,  and  buffalo  meat,  served  in  large  wooden  platters. 
The  boiled  dog,  although  an  Indian  delicacy,  was  politely 

®This  was  a  common  dish  among  the  natives  of  the  Mississippi 
Valley,  and  consisted  of  flour  of  maize,  boiled  in  water  and  seasoned 
with  grease. 


Joliet  and  Marquette.  55 

declined  by  the  two  guests,  and  was  removed  from  their 
presence.  When  the  feast  was  ended,  they  were  shown 
over  the  village,  which  was  found  to  contain  three  hundred 
cabins.  Before  taking  their  departure,  the  head  chief, 
as  a  special  mark  of  consideration  for  Father  Marquette, 
presented  him  with  a  mysterious  calumet  of  peace,  fanci- 
fully decorated  with  feathers,  which  was  intended  to  serve 
him  and  his  party  as  a  safeguard  on  their  voyage. 

After  spending  a  couple  of  days  with  these  hospitable 
children  of  nature,  the  explorers  re-embarked  on  the  after- 
noon of  the  second  day  in  sight  of  all  the  villagers,  who, 
to  the  number  of  over  five  hundred,  escorted  them  to  their 
canoes,  which  they  greatly  admired,  having  never  seen  the 
like  before.  Being  again  afloat  on  the  mysterious  river, 
our  Frenchmen  were  soon  borne  by  its  swift  current  to 
and  through  the  slight  rapids  at  the  entrance  of  the  Des 
Moines,  and  thence  on  to  the  mouth  of  the  Illinois,  putting 
in  from  the  northeast.  They  next  passed,  on  their  left,  that 
gigantic  and  craggy  wall  of  lime  and  sandstone  rock,  which 
abuts  the  northern  shore  for  twenty  miles  below  the  Illi- 
nois, and  which  rises  at  some  points  to  the  height  of  four 
hundred  feet  above  the  water. 

"As  we  coasted  along  the  rocks,  frightful  from  their 
height  and  vastness,"  says  Marquette's  journal,  "  we  saw 
upon  one  of  them  two  monsters  painted,  (so)  that  we  were 
alarmed  at  first  sight,  and  upon  which  some  of  the  most 
courageous  savages  dare  not  for  a  long  time  fasten  their 
eyes.  They  are  as  large  as  a  calf,  have  horns  upon  the  head 
like  a  deer,  a  frightful  look,  red  eyes,  a  beard  like  a  tiger ; 
the  face  something  like  a  man's,  the  body  covered  with 
scales,  and  the  tail  so  long  that  it  made  the  circuit  of  the 
body,  passing  over  the  head  and  returning  under  the  legs, 
terminating  like  the  tail  of  a  fish.  The  colors  that  com- 
posed it  were  green,  red,  and  black."* 


*The  western  Indians  were  not  unacquainted  with  a  rude  kind  of 
picture-writing.  But  it  is  supposed  that  these  crude  paintings,  indis- 
tinctly representing  men  and  beasts,  though  an  object  of  idolatrous  wor- 
ship to  the  savages,  and  long  the  wonder  of  the  curious,  were  little  more 
than  the  exudation  of  colored  matter  from  the  rock  itself.  They  were 


56  Great  Ewer  Voyage  of 

This  was  near  the  mouth  of  Piasa  Creek,  and  two  miles 
above  the  modern  city  of  Alton.  A  few  miles  farther  on, 
while  rowing  in  smooth  water,  and  still  conversing  about 
the  "  monsters,"  the  voyagers  were  unexpectedly  caught  in 
the  muddy  and  impetuous  current  of  the  Pekitanoui  (Mis- 
souri),* coming  in  from  the  northwest,  and  swept  over  to 
the  Illinois  side.  Escaping  this  danger,  they  paused  on 
their  oars  to  view  the  outlet  of  that  powerful  stream  which 
changes  the  character  of  the  Mississippi,  and  doubtless  took 
note  of  the  fact  that  for  several  miles  below  the  waters  of 
the  two  rivers  refused  to  coalesce.  Continuing  their  course, 
they  soon  passed,  on  their  right,  the  forest  crowned  site  of 
St.  Louis,  and  lower  down,  on  their  left,  the  mouth  of  the 
gentle  Kaskaskia ;  and  then  they  approached  that  roundish 
pile  of  rock,  since  known  as  Grand  Tower,  against  which 
the  whole  current  of  the  river  seemed  to  set.  This  was 
the  demon  or  evil  Manitou  of  which  the  northern  Indians 
had  warned  them,  but  it  did  not  prevent  their  passage 
and  safe  arrival  at  the  Ouabouskigou,  the  Ohio,  or  Oua- 
bache  of  the  French.  "  This  river,"  says  Marquette's 
journal,  "  comes  from  the  lands  of  the  rising  sun,  where 
there  is  a  great  number  of  people  called  Chaounons."  f 
The  explorers  now  entered  the  low  country — the  region  of 
the  reed  cane,  the  cotton  tree,  and  the  cypress — where  they 
experienced  no  little  annoyance  from  musquitoes.  Not  far 
below  the  confluence  of  the  Ohio,  they  perceived  Indians 
on  the  eastern  bank,  who  stopped  and  waited  for  them  to 
approach.  Marquette  immediately  showed  his  decorated 
calumet,  which  was  accepted  by  the  savages  as  a  token  of 
peace ;  and  when  the  Frenchmen  had  put  to  shore,  they 


placed  about  fifty  feet  above  the  base  of  the  cliff;  but  through  the  combined 
action  of  the  elements,  and  the  work  of  the  quarryman,  they  are  now 
totally  obliterated. 

*If  we  might  credit  the  uncertain  narrative  of  the  Baron  de  la 
Honton,  he  first  explored  the  Missouri  River  early  in  1689,  ascending  it 
as  far  as  the  mouth  of  the  Osage.  See  La  Honton' s  Voyages  (English  ed., 
London,  1735),  vol.  I.,  p.  130. 

t  These  were  the  Shawanoes,  Shawanese,  or  Shawnees,  who  consti- 
tuted one  of  the  most  restless  and  migratory  of  the  Algonquin  tribes, 
and  are  celebrated  as  the  tribe  of  Tecumseh. 


Joliet  and  Marquette.  57 

were  feasted  upon  buffalo  meat  and  bear's  oil,  with  some 
white  plums  as  a  dessert.  These  Indians  belonged  to  a 
tribe  called  the  Monsoupelea,  and  were  armed  with  fusees 
that  had  been  procured  from  nations  who  traded  with  the 
English  on  the  coast  of  Carolina.  They  told  their  visitors 
that  the  sea  might  be  reached  in  ten  days'  sail,  but  this 
proved  fallacious. 

Continuing  their  rapid  descent  of  the  grand  river,  the 
voyagers  next  approached,  on  their  right,  a  village  of  the 
Metchigamea,*  who  showed  themselves  very .  hostile,  and 
made  ready  to  attack  them  both  by  land  and  water.  While 
his  companions  put  themselves  in  an  attitude  of  defense, 
Father  Marquette  resolutely  displayed  his  grand  calumet, 
and  made  signs  that  they  had  not  come  for  war;  "when," 
he  tells  us,  "  God  touched  suddenly  the  hearts  of  the  old 
men  who  were  on  the  shore,  occasioned  doubtless  by  the 
sight  of  our  calumet,  and  they  arrested  the  ardor  of  their 
young  men."  The  Frenchmen  then  went  ashore,  though 
not  without  trepidation,  and  held  a  parley  with  the  savages. 
This  was  carried  on  at  first  by  signs  and  gestures,  for  they 
did  not  understand  any  of  the  six  Indian  dialects  that  Mar- 
quette spoke.  Fortunately  an  old  man  was  soon  found  who 
could  speak  a  little  Illinois,  and  he  acted  as  interpreter. 
After  presents  had  been  distributed  among  these  people, 
they  became  more  civil,  and  offered  their  guests  sagamittee 
and  fish,  but  declined  to  give  them  any  information  about 
the  nations  or  country  to  the  southward. 

Having  passed  the  night  in  much  uneasiness  at  this 
village,  the  voyagers  re-embarked  the  next  morning  with 
their  interpreter,  and  were  piloted  by  a  canoe  carrying  ten 
savages  down  the  river,  some  eight  leagues,  to  a  large  vil- 
lage of  the  Akamsca,  or  Akansea.  When  within  half  a 
league  of  the  village,  they  perceived  two  canoes  coming  to 
meet  them,  in  the  first  of  which  an  Indian  was  standing  up 
and  holding  in  his  hand  a  calumet,  "  with  which  he  made 
many  motions,  according  to  the  custom  of  the  country." 


*  The  Metchigamea,  or  Michigamies,  were  a  warlike  tribe,  who  ap- 
pear to  have  subsequently  fused  with  the  Kaskaskias  of  Illinois. 


58  Great  River  Voyage  of 

He  approached,  "  singing  very  agreeably,  and  presented  it 
to  them  to  smoke,  after  which  he  gave  them  sagamittee, 
and  bread  made  of  Indian  corn,  and  then,  taking  the  ad- 
vance, made  a  sign  to  them  to  follow  quietly  after  him." 

Arrived  at  the  village  of  the  Akansea,*  the  French- 
men were  escorted  to  the  platform,  or  scaffold  of  the  war- 
chief,  which  was  strongly  built  and  covered  with  fine  mats 
of  rashes,  upon  which  they  were  seated,  having  about  them 
the  old  men  next  to  whom  stood  the  warriors,  and  after  the 
latter  a  promiscuous  crowd  of  squaws  and  children.  Luck- 
ily, there  was  found  here  a  young  Indian  who  understood 
the  Illinois  language  much  better  than  the  interpreter  who 
had  accompanied  them  from  the  Metchigamea.  With  his 
aid,  Marquette  talked  to  the  whole  assembly,  at  the  same 
time  making  them  some  small  presents,  and  told  them  about 
God  and  the  'mysteries  of  the  Catholic  faith  and  worship. 

When  asked  what  they  knew  about  the  sea  and  the 
nations  who  lived  upon  its  shores,  "they  answered  that 
we  could  be  there  in  ten  days;  that  it  was  possible  for 
us  to  make  the  journey  in  five  days,  but  that  they  were 
not  acquainted  with  the  nations  who  dwelt  upon  it,  be- 
cause their  enemies  prevented  them  from  having  any 
intercourse  with  the  Europeans ;  that  their  tomahawks, 
knives,  and  glass  beads,  which  we  saw,  had  been  sold  to 
them  in  part  by  the  nations  to  the  east,  and  partly  by  a 
tribe  of  the  Illinois  living  at  the  west,  four  days'  journey 
from  there ;  that  the  savages  whom  we  saw  with  fusees 
were  their  enemies,  who  shut  up  their  passage  to  the  sea, 
and  prevented  them  from  having  a  knowledge  of  the  Euro- 
peans and  any  trade  with  them.  As  for  the  rest,  we  should 
expose  ourselves  very  much  by  passing  further  on,  for  the 
reason  that  their  enemies  were  making  continual  irruptions 
upon  the  river,  which  they  cruised  upon  continually."  f 

While  this  public  talk  was  going  on,  the  Indians 
brought  to  their  guests,  on  platters  or  dishes  of  wood, 
sometimes  sagamittee,  then  whole  ears  of  corn,  and  then  a 

*  It  is  conjectured  that  this  was  what  was  afterward  known  as  the 
Kappa  village  of  the  Arkansas. 

t  Marquette's  Journal  du  Voyage. 


Joliet  and  Marquette.  59 

piece  of  dog-meat.  The  people  of  this  tribe  are  described 
as  being  very  liberal  with  what  they  possessed,  but  as  liv- 
ing poorly  in  bark  cabins,  and  not  daring  to  go  to  hunt  the 
wild  cattle  for  fear  of  their  enemies.  "They  had,  however, 
abundance  of  Indian  corn,  which  they  cooked  in  large 
earthen  vessels,  and  plenty  of  watermelons.  The  men 
went  naked,  wearing  their  hair  short,  and  boring  the  nose 
and  ears  to  put  in  them  rings  of  glass  beads.  The  women 
were  indifferently  clad  in  skins,  and  wore  their  hair  plaited 
in  two  braids,  which  fell  behind  the  ears. 

Messieurs  Joliet  and  Marquette  now  conferrred  together 
vas  to  whether  they  should  continue  their  voyage,  or  con- 
tent themselves  with  the  discoveries  they  had  already  made. 
Being  persuaded  that  the  Mississippi  had  its  discharge  in 
West  Florida,  at  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  not  to  the  east 
on  the  coast  of  Virginia,  nor  to  the  west  in  the  Gulf  of 
California,  and  being,  moreover,  apprehensive  that  if  they 
went  much  farther  south  they  might  fall  into  the  hands  of 
the  Spaniards,  and  thus  lose  the  fruits  of  their  long  voyage, 
they  discreetly  decided  to  retrace  their  course. 

Accordingly,  on  the  17th  of  July,*  after  a  day's  rest, 
the  explorers  turned  their  canoes  up  the  great  river,  and 
had  much  difficulty  in  stemming  its  powerful  current. 


*Marquette's  Journal  here  says:  "After  a  month's  navigation  in 
descending  the  Mississippi,  from  the  forty-second  degree  to  the  thirty- 
fourth  and  more,  and  after  having  published  the  Gospel  to  all  the  na- 
tions I  had  met,  we  left  the  village  of  the  Akansea  on  the  17th  of  July 
to  retrace  our  steps." 

Making  allowance  for  their  incorrect  latitude,  which  was  about  one 
degree  too  low,  or  near  the  equator,  it  seems  that  the  explorers  de- 
scended below  the  35th  parallel  to  a  village  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
present  town  of  Helena.  Nor  is  it  incredible,  as  argued  by  some  writers, 
that  they  should  have  sailed  so  far  to  the  south  in  thirty  days'  time.  It 
is  apparent  from  Marquette's  narrative  that  they  were  equipped  with 
light  canoes,  oars,  and  sails  for  rapid  traveling;  that,  after  quitting 
the  Illinois,  their  stoppages  were  few  and  of  short  duration ;  and  that 
going  with  the  current,  and  favored  by  the  annual  rise  in  the  river,  they 
could  without  difficulty  have  averaged  thirty-six  miles  per  day,  includ- 
ing halts.  This  would  have  covered  the  distance  of  eleven  hundred 
miles,  by  the  windings  of  the  river,  from  the  mouth  of  the  Wisconsin 
to  that  of  the  Arkansas.  Charlevoix,  in  describing  the  birch-bark  ca- 
noes, says  that,  "  with  a  good  wind,  they  can  make  twenty  leagues  in  a 


60  Great  River  Voyage  of 

But  few  incidents  are  recorded  of  this  tedious  and  toil- 
some homeward  trip,  which  they  made  under  the  sweltering 
sun  of  midsummer,  and  exposed  by  night  to  the  noxious 
exhalations  from  the  bayous  and  morasses  bordering  the 
river.  AVhen  they  again  approached  the  mouth  of  the  Illi- 
nois, having  been  told  by  the  Indians  that  this  river  afforded 
a  more  direct  route  to  the  great  lakes  than  that  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi and  Wisconsin,  they  entered  and  followed  it  to  the 
northeast.  As  the  voyagers  ascended  its  sluggish  channel, 
they  were  delighted  with  the  stream  and  the  varied  aspect 
of  the  adjacent  country. 

"  We  had  never  seen  any  thing  like  this  river,"  says 
the  father  in  his  journal,  "  for  the  richness  of  the  soil,  the 
prairies  and  woods,  the  buffaloes,  the  elks,  the  deer,  the 
wild  cats,  the  bustards,  the  swans  (or  wild  geese),  the  ducks, 
the  paroquets,  and  even  the  beavers.  It  is  made  up  of 
little  lakes  and  little  rivers.  That  upon  which  we  voyaged 
is  wide,  deep,  and  gentle  for  sixty-five  leagues.  During 
the  spring  and  part  of  the  summer,  it  is  necessary  to  make 
a  portage  of  half  a  league."  f 

In  ascending  the  Illinois  River,  their  first  stop  of  any 
length  was  at  a  village  of  the  Peorias,  the  location  of  which 
is  not  mentioned,  though  it  was  probably  on  or  near  Peoria 
Lake.  "  Here,"  says  Marquette's  narrative,  "  I  preached 
for  three  days  to  them  the  mysteries  of  our  faith,  in  all  their 
cabins,  after  which,  as  we  were  about  to  embark,  they 
brought  to  me,  at  the  edge  of  the  water,  a  dying  infant, 
which  I  baptized  a  little  while  before  it  died,  for  the  salva- 
tion of  its  innocent  soul." 

Higher  up  the  stream,  the  voyagers  found  a  village  of 
the  Illinois  called  Kachkaskia,  containing  seventy-four  cab- 
day,  but,  without  sails,  they  must  be  good  canoe-men  to  make  twelve 
leagues  in  dead  water." 

It  is  true  that  La  Salle,  Tcnty,  St.  Cosine,  and  others  of  the  early 
voyageurs  made  no  such  quick  time  as  that  on  the  Mississippi.  But  their 
southern  voyages  were  mostly  undertaken  in  the  winter  or  early  spring, 
with  heavier  canoes  and  baggage,  and  they  were  otherwise  encumbered 
or  impeded  in  their  progress  by  a  following  of  Indians. 

t  This  portage  was  from  the  Des  Plaines  branch  of  the  Illinois  to 
the  Chicagou,  which  empties  into  Lake  Michigan. 


Joliet  and  Marquette.  61 

ins,  where  they  were  very  kindly  received  by  the  inhabit- 
ants ;  so  well  pleased  were  the  latter  with  the  teachings 
of  the  good  priest,  that  they  made  him  promise  to  return 
and  further  instruct  them.  One  of  the  chiefs  and  a  young 
brave  of  the  tribe  conducted  the  Frenchmen  thence  to  the 
Lac  des  Illinois  (Lake  Michigan),  by  which  they  at  last 
returned  to  the  mission  of  St.  Francis  Xavier  on  Green  Bay, 
at  the  close  of  September.  They  had  left  this  station  four 
months  before,  and  during  that  time  had  traveled  a  circuit 
of  about  twenty-seven  hundred  miles  through  regions 
hitherto  unvisited  by  white  men."* 

The  two  explorers  now  shortly  separated,  never  to  meet 
again  on  earth.  When  Father  Marquette  reached  the  mis- 
sion on  Green  Bay,  his  constitution  was  seriously  impaired 
by  the  fatigues  and  hardships  incident  to  his  prolonged 
journey,  and  he  was  detained  there  by  sickness  during  the 
ensuing  year.  In  September,  1674,  having  partly  regained 
his  health,  he  completed  his  journal  of  the  voyage  down 
the  Mississippi,  and  sent  it  to  his  superior  at  Quebec.  An 
imperfect  copy  of  this  journal,  it  seems,  soon  found  its  way 
to  Paris,  and  into  the  hands  of  Mons.Thevenot,  an  enter- 
prising Parisian  publisher.  Appreciating  the  interest  and 
importance  of  the  narrative,  he  published  it  in  1681,  in  a 
volume  styled  Recuil  de  Voyages  (Collection  of  Voy- 
ages), under  the  particular  title  of  "  Voyage  et  decouverte  de 
qulque  pays  et  nations  de  L'Amerique  Septontrionale"  to- 
gether with  a  rude  map  of  the  Mississippi  Valley ;  sev- 
eral English  translations  of  which  are  extant. 

When  this- journal  of  Father  Marquette  first  appeared 


*  The  following  table  of  the  distances  traveled  over  by  M.  Joliet  and 
Father  Marquette  is  taken  from  Sparks's  Life  of  Marquette : 

Miles. 

From  the  Mission  of  St.  Ignace  to  Green  Bay,  about 218 

From  Green  Bay  (Puaiis)  up  Fox  River  to  the  portage 175 

From  the  portage  down  the  Wisconsin  to  the  Mississippi 175 

From  the  mouth  of  the  Wisconsin  to  the  mouth  of  the  Arkansas. .  1 ,087 

From  the  mouth  of  the  Arkansas  to  the  Illinois  River 547 

From  the  mouth  of  the  Illinois  to  the  Chicago  (Creek) 305 

From  the  Chicago  to  Green  Bay,  by  the  lake  shore 260 

Total 2,767 


62  Great  River  Voyage. 

in  print,  its  authenticity  was  denied,  especially  by  the 
writers  in  La  Salle's  interest,  who  affected  to  treat  it  as  a 
fiction,  or  narrative  of  a  pretended  voyage.  "  Indeed," 
writes  Mr.  Shea,  "  the  services  and  narrative  would  hardly 
have  escaped  oblivion,  had  not  Charlevoix  brought  them  to 
light-in  his  great  work  on  New  France."  But  the  oppor- 
tune discovery  in  1844  of  the  original  manuscript  of  Mar- 
quette's  journal  and  map,*  in  the  keeping  of  the  hospital 
nuns  of  the  Hotel-Dieu  at  Quebec,  to  whose  care  it  had  been 
transferred,  with  otl^er  papers,  from  the  old  Jesuit  College 
in  that  city  shortly  before  the  year  1800,  has  settled  the 
question  of  its  genuineness  beyond  dispute.f 

The  narrative  itself  has  a  peculiar  value,  owing  to  the 
loss  of  Joliet's  original  papers  of  the  journey.  It  is  also  note- 
worthy for  the  terseness,  simplicity,  and  charm  of  its  style, 
particularly  in  the  descriptive  passages.  Aside  from  some  pro- 
pensity on  the  part  of  its  priestly  author  toward  hyperbole,! 
and  waiving  the  question  as  to  how  far  he  and  Joliet  actu- 
ally went  below  the  junction  of  the  Ohio  River,  his  journal 
may  be  accepted  as  a  true  and  striking  picture  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi Valley,  and  of  its  savage  inhabitants,  at  that  pris- 
tine period  of  the  country's  history.  Marquette  had  an  ob- 
servant eye  for  the  various  phenomena  of  nature,  and  his. 
brief  explanation  of  the  lake  tides  has  not  been  greatly  im- 
proved upon  by  the  deductions  of  modern  scientists. 

Having  at  length  received  from  the  superior  of  his 
order  at  Quebec  the  requisite  authority  to  establish  a  mis- 
sion on  the  Illinois  River,  and  his  health  now  seeming  to 
be-  restored,  Father  Marquette  started  for  his  new  mission 
on  the  25th  of  October,  1674.  Leaving  the  station  of  St. 
Francis  Xavier  in  a  canoe,  with  two  French  attendants,  he 


*  Now  preserved  among  the  old  records  in  St.  Mary's  College,  Mon- 
treal. 

t  Moses'  History  of  111.,  vol.  1,  p.  59. 

t  This  tendency  to  exaggeration  characterizes,  in  a  greater  or  less  de- 
gree, the  writings  of  all  the  early  explorers  of  America.  It  was  doubt- 
less natural  to  those  men  of  impressible  imaginations,  in  the  continual 
presence  of  new  and  surprising  objects ;  for  their  minds  had  not  been 
trained  to  that  accuracy  of  statement  which  is  expected  from  reputable 
modern  travelers. 


Marquette's  Last  Visit  to  the  Illinois.  63 

coasted  along  the  Green  Bay  Inlet  to  its  southern  terminus, 
and  thence  made  a  portage  across  the  narrow  peninsula  to  the 
western  shore  of  Lake  Michigan.  En  route,  he  overtook  a 
party  of  the  Pottawatomie  and  Illinois  Indians,  and  jour- 
neyed with  them  up  the  lake.  About  the  23d  of  November, 
the  missionary  was  again  seized  by  his  old  malady,  the  dys- 
entery, accompanied  with  hemorrhage,  but  pushed  on,  un- 
daunted by  disease  and  snowstorms,  until  the  4th  of  December, 
when  lie  and  his  companions  reached  the  mouth  of  Chicago 
Creek.  Finding  it  bridged  with  ice.  they  moved  up  its  frozen 
surface  about  two  leagues,  following  the  south  branch,  and 
there  stopped  and  built  a  cabin,  which  is  believed  to  have 
been  the  first  white  human  habitation  erected  on  the  site 
of  the  metropolitan  city  of  Chicago. 

Being  unable  to  proceed  farther,  the  sick  priest  and 
his  two  attendants  wintered  in  this  dreary  abode.  He 
passed  his  waking  hours  in  prayer  and  meditation,  and 
said  mass  every  day.  In  the  latter  part  of  January,  he  was 
visited  by  a  deputation  of  three  Illinois  Indians,  who 
brought  him  provisions  and  beaver  skins,  and  wanted  in 
return  powder  and  merchandise ;  but  he  gave  them  only 
the  latter.  During  the  winter  he  also  received  a  visit  from 
a  French  trader  or  trapper,  who  was  stationed  some  fifty 
miles  away,  and  who  had  heard  of  his  illness. 

Again  recovered  some  what,  Father  Marquette  resumed 
his  journey  on  the  29th  of  March,  1675,  and,  going  byway 
of  Mud  Lake  and  the  rivers  Des  Plaines  and  Illinois,  he  ar- 
rived at  the  village  of  the  Kaskaskias  on  the  8th  of  April. 
It  was  here,  near  the  site  of  the  present  town  of  Utica,  that 
he  began  his  mission,  to  which  he  gave  the  name  of  the 
"Immaculate  Conception  of  the  Blessed  Virgin."  But  it 
was  only  for  a  little  while  that  he  was  able  to  teach  the 
benighted  Indians  ;  for  "  continued  illness  soon  obliged  him 
to  set  forth  on  that  return  voyage,  which  brought  him  to  a 
lonely  grave  in  the  wilderness."  On  thejeve  of  his  depar- 
ture from  the  village,  he  convened  the  inhabitants,  to  the 
number  of  two  thousand,  on  a  meadow  hard  by,  and  there 
on  a  rude  altar,  exhibited  four  pictures  of  the  Vir- 
gin Mary,  explained  their  significance,  and  exhorted  the 


64  Great  River  Voyage. 

chiefs  and  people  to  embrace  •  Christianity.  It  may  he  re- 
marked, en  passant,  that  the  doctrine  (now  dogma)  of  the 
Immaculate  Conception  of  the  Virgin  was  a  favorite  tenet 
of  the  Jesuits,  and  that  Father  Marquette  was  especially 
devoted  to  it.  Quitting  the  Indian  village  a  few  days  after 
Easter,  he  was  escorted  by  a  band  of  the  Kaskaskias  to 
Lake  Michigan,  and,  on  taking  final  leave  of  (them,  he 
promised  that  either  himself  or  some  other  missionary  would 
return  and  resume  his  labors  among  them. 

"He  seems  to  have  taken  the  way  by  the  mouth 
of  St.  Joseph's  River,  and  reached  the  eastern  shore  of 
Lake  Michigan,  along  which  he  had  not  as  yet  sailed.  His 
strength  now  gradually  failed,  and  he  was  at  last  so  weak 
that  he  had  to  be  lifted  in  and  out  of  his  canoe,  when  they 
landed  each  night.  Calmly  and  cheerfully  he  saw  the 
approach  of  death,  for  which  he  prepared  by  assiduous 
prayer ;  his  office  he  regularly  recited  to  the  last  day  of  his 
life;  a  meditation  on  death,  which  he  had  long  prepared, 
he  also  made  the  subject  of  his  thoughts.  And  as  his  kind 
but  simple  companions  seemed  overwhelmed  at  the  pros- 
pect of  their  approaching  loss,  he  blessed  some  water  with 
the  usual  ceremonies,  gave  them  directions  how  to  act  in 
his  last  moments,  how  to  arrange  his  body,  and  how  to 
commit  it  to  the  earth.  He  now  seemed  but  to  seek  a 
grave ;  at  last,  perceiving  the  mouth  of  a  river,  he  pointed 
to  an  eminence  as  the  place  of  his  burial. 

"His  companions,  Pierre  Porteret  and  Jacques , 

still  hoped  to  reach  Mackinaw,  but  the  wind  drove  them 
back,  and  they  entered  the  river  by  the  channel  where  it 
emptied  then,  for  it  has  since  changed.  They  erected  a 
little  bark  cabin,  and  stretched  the  dying  missionary  be- 
neath it,  as  comfortably  as  they  could.  Still  a  priest,  rather 
than  a  man,  he  thought  of  his  ministry,  and,  for  the  last 
time,  he  heard  the  confessions  of  his  companions,  and  en- 
couraged them  to  rely  on  the  protection  of  God ;  then  sent 
them  to  take  the  repose  they  so  much  needed.  When  he 
felt  his  agony  approaching,  he  called  them,  and,  taking  his 
crucifix  from  around  his  neck,  he  placed  it  in  their  hands, 
and,  pronouncing  in  a  firm  voice  his  profession  of  faith, 


Death  of  Marquette.  65 

thanked  the  Almighty  for  the  favor  of  permitting  him  to 
die  a  Jesuit,  a  missionary,  and  alone.  Then  he  relapsed 
into  silence,  interrupted  by  pious  aspirations,  till  at  last, 
with  the  names  of  Jesus  and  Mary  on  his  lips,  with  his 
eyes  raised  as  if  in  ecstacy  above  his  crucifix,  with  his  face 
all  radiant  with  joy,  he  passed  from  the  scene  of  his  labors 
to  the  God  who  was  to  be  his  reward.  Such  was  the  edify- 
ing and  holy  death  of  the  illustrious  explorer  of  the  Miss- 
issippi, on  Saturday  the  18th  of  May,  1675."* 

Obedient  to  the  instructions  they  had  received,  the 
two  surviving  attendants  of  the  dead  priest  bore  his  body 
to  the  spot  he  had  designated,  committed  it  tenderly  to  the 
earth,  and  placed  over  it  a  rude  cedar  cross.  Then,  re- 
entering  their  canoe,  they  wended  their  way  to  Michili- 
mackinac,  to  carry  the  sad  tidings  to  the  Jesuit  Fathers  at 
St.  Ignace.  The  river,  at  the  mouth  of  which  Marquette 
died,  is  a  small  stream,  in  the  western  part  of  Michigan, 
which,  according  to  Parkman,  long  wore  his  name,  but  it 
is  now  changed  to  a  larger  neighboring  stream. 

Two  years  later,  in  the  spring  of  1677,  a  party  of 
Christianized  Kiskakon  Indians,  from  about  Mackinac, 
who  had  been  hunting  in  the  vicinity  of  Marquette's  grave, 
disinterred  his  remains,  cleaned  the  bones  after  their  cus- 
tom, put  them  into  a  birch  bark  box,  and  transported 
them  to  St.  Ignace.  On  the  passage  thither,  they  were 
joined  by  other  Indians  in  canoes,  and  the  convoy  moved 
in  procession,  singing  their  doleful  funeral  songs,  until  they 
reached  the  landing  at  the  mission-station.  Here  the  re- 
vered relics  of  the  missionary  were  received  by  Fathers 
Nouvel  and  Pierson,  the  priests  then  in  charge,  in  presence 
of  all  the  Frenchmen  and  natives  of  the  place,  and  were 
deposited,  with  solemn  religious  rites,  in  a  vault  under  the 


*Life  of  Father  Marquette,  in  Shea's  "  Discovery  and  Exploration 
of  the  Mississippi  Valley,"  p.  LXX,  and  seq. 

Note. — The  account  of  this  eminent  missionary-explorer's  death  by 
Charlevoix,  formerly  so  generally  received,  is  inaccurate  in  many  par- 
ticulars, because  it  was  derived  from  tradition,  and  not  from  the  con- 
temporary narrative  of  Father  Claude  Dablon,  and  others. 
5 


66  Great  River  Voyage, 

floor  of  the  log  chapel.  In  process  of  time  (the  mission 
being  afterward  abandoned)  their  resting  place  was  utterly 
forgotten,  but  it  was  discovered  by  a  clergyman  of  Michi- 
gan, in  1877,  two  centuries  after  the  event. 

So  lived  and  died,  at  the  age  of  eight  and  thirty  years,  the 
meek  and  pious,  yet  fearless  and  self-sacrificing  Pere  Jacques 
Marquette.  He  was  a  model  of  the  religious  order  to  which  he 
belonged,  and  deserved  to  have  been  beatified,  if  not  canon- 
ized as  a  saint.  His  disposition  was  cheerful  and  happy, 
and  his  hold  upon  the  hearts  of  those  aborigines  with  whom 
he  came  in  personal  touch  was  something  wonderful.  This 
was  doubtless  owing  to  his  uniform  kindness  toward 
them,  to  the  purity  of  his  private  life,  and  to  the  grace  and 
charm  of  his  manner  in  the  exercise  of  his  priestly  func- 
tions. Nor  is  it  incredible,  as  related  by  a  contemporary, 
that  the  Illinois  Indians  should  have  regarded  him  as  a 
messenger  sent  to  them  from  the  Great  Spirit.  His  name 
holds  a  conspicuous  and  honored  place  in  the  history  of  the 
Jesuit  missionaries  of  North  America,  and  is  inseparably 
associated  with  the  discovery  of  the  Upper  Mississippi.  It 
is  otherwise  perpetuated  in  the  appellations  of  several 
counties,  towns  and  streams,  in  the  different  states  of  the 
northwest.  Still,  Illinois  owes  him  a  monument  suitable 
to  his  character  and  services. 

We  must  now  resume  and  complete  our  skeleton  sketch 
ot  Joliet's  active  and  diversified  career.  After  returning 
with  Marquette  to  Green  Bay,  in  September,  1673,  he  did  not 
immediately  proceed  to  Canada  to  report  his  discoveries,  as 
is  commonly  supposed,  but  spent  the  following  winter  and 
spring  in  the  upper  lake  country  (engaged,  no  doubt,  in 
the  fur  traffic),  and  during  the  next  summer  resumed  his 
journey  to  Quebec.  Passing  down  Lakes  Huron,  Erie  and 
and  Ontario,  he  made  a  brief  halt  at  Fort  Frontenac, 
which  had  been  erected  the  year  before,  and  was  then  com- 
manded by  LaSalle,  The  latter  was  probably  among  the 
first  to  learn  the  result  of  Joliet's  voyage  of  exploration  on 
the  Mississippi,  and  may,  perhaps,  have  seen  his  map  and 
journal,  which  were  soon  afterward  lost.  The  Sieur  Joliet, 
had  thus  far  been  highly  favored  by  fortune,  and  it  was  not 


Subsequent  Career  of  Joliet.  67 

until  near  the  end  of  his  long  journey  that  he  met  with 
any  serious  mishap.  But  by  the  accidental  upsetting 
of  his  canoe  in  the  LaChine  rapids,  above  Montreal,  he 
lost  his  two  canoe-men,  and  all  of  his  valuable  papers.  In 
a  letter  penned  shortly  after  to  Governor  Frontenac,  he 
thus  feelingly  refers  to  his  misfortune : 

"  I  had  escaped  every  peril  of  the  Indians ;  I  had 
passed  forty-two  rapids,  and  was  on  the  point  of  disem- 
barking, full  of  joy  at  the  success  of  so  long  and  difficult 
an  enterprise,  when  my  canoe  capsized  after  all  the  danger 
seemed  over.  I  lost  my  two  men  and  box  of  papers 
within  sight  of  the  first  French  settlement,  which  I  had 
left  almost  two  years  before.  Nothing  remains  to  me  now 
but  my  life,  and  the  ardent  desire  to  employ  it  on  any 
service  you  may  direct."  * 

M.  Joliet  finally  reached  Quebec  in  August,  1674,  and 
reported  in  person  to  the  governor.  Being  separated  at  a 
great  distance  from  Marquette,  and  deprived  of  his  papers 
by  casualty,  he  drew  up  a  short  account  of  his  discovery 
from  recollection,  and  also  sketched  out  a  map  of  the  Missis- 
sippi. Gov.  Frontenac  transmitted  these  papers  to  France 
during  the  ensuing  November,  and  in  a  dispatch  of  the  14th 
of  that  month  to  Minister  Colbert  (inserted  at  the  close  of 
this  chapter),  he  wrote  about  the  "great  river"  as  an  indu- 
bitable fact.f  Father  Dablon,  in  his  writings,  also  gives  an 
account  of  the  voyage,  "describing  Joliet  as  one  who  had 
been  where  no  European  had  ever  set  foot."  J  No  general 
publicity  was  given  by  the  French  government  to  the  dis- 
covery of  the  Mississippi ;  nor  was  Joliet  entrusted  with 
any  new  commission  to  execute  in  the  West.  It  is  averred 
that  in  April,  1677,  he  petitioned  Colbert  for  permission  to 
settle  with  a  colony  in  the  country  of  the  Illinois,  but  it 

*  This  letter  is  inscribed  on  Joliet's  map  of  his  discoveries  made  in  1674. 

t  The  papers  have  been  preserved  in  the  Archives  de  la  Marine  at  Paris. 
It  has  been  suggested  that  the  map  published  by  Thevenot,  in  connec- 
tion with  Marquette's  Journal,  was  reproduced  from  the  one  made  by 
Joliet  and  forwarded  to  Paris,  as  above  stated.  The  latter  shows  the 
Mississippi  to  the  Gulf,  whereas  Marquette's  autograph  map  shows  that 
river  not  quite  to  the  Arkansas. 

t  Kingsford's  History  of  Canada,  I.,  p.  405. 


68  Great  River  Voyage. 

was  refused  him  on  the  specious  ground  that  "  Canada 
ought  first  to  be  built  up,  strengthened,  and  maintained."  * 
In  truth,  his  modest  merit  seems  to  have  been  thrown 
into  the  shade  by  the  rising  pretensions  of  La  Salle,  who 
had  won  Frontenac's  favor. 

On  October  7,  1675,  at  the  age  of  thirty,  Louis  Joliet 
was  united  in  marriage  to  Claire  Frances  Bissot,  daughter 
of  a  wealthy  Quebec  merchant,  who  was  extensively  en- 
gaged in  trade  with  the  northern  Indians.  In  1679  he 
made  a  journey  of  business  and  exploration  to  Hudson's 
Bay,  going  by  way  of  the  Lower  St.  Lawrence  and  the  river 
Saguenay.  During  the  next  year,  in  tardy  recognition  of  his 
valuable  services  to  the  provincial  government,  he  received 
a  grant  of  the  large  yet  barren  Isle  of  Anticosti,  lying  in 
the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence.  Taking  possession  of  his  island 
domain  in  1681,  he  erected  a  fortified  house  upon  it,  re- 
moved his  family  thither,  and  embarked  in  the  fisheries. 
But  in  1690  his  establishment  was  destroyed  by  a  naval 
force  from  New  England,  under  the  command  of  Sir  Will- 
iam Phipps,  who  was  on  his  way  to  attack  Quebec ;  and 
Joliet's  wife  and  mother-in-law  were  made  prisoners,  and 
held  for  some  months.  In  1693  he  was  appointed  royal 
pilot  of  the  St.  Lawrence  River,  and  during  the  succeeding 
year  explored  and  mapped  the  bleak  coast  of  Labrador,  a 
work  involving  great  personal  exposure.  April  30,  1697, 
he  was  invested  with  the  "  Seigneury  of  Joliette,"  a  large 
and  since  valuable  estate,  which  lies  on  the  north  side  of 
the  St.  Lawrence  below  Montreal,  in  Beauce  county,  and 
which  is  still  possessed  by  some  of  his  posterity. 

Louis  Joliet  died  comparatively  poor  in  May,  1700, 
being  in  his  fifty-fifth  year,  and  was  buried,  it  is  stated,  on 
one  of  the  Mignan  islands  in  the  St.  Lawrence.  Without 
possessing  any  very  salient  or  brilliant  qualities,  he  was  an 
intelligent,  well-educated  man,  ambitious  and  enterprising, 
undaunted  by  difficulty  or  danger,  and  faithful  in  the  per- 
formance of  every  public  duty.  Few,  if  any,  of  his  con- 
temporaries contributed  more  than  he  did  to  the  geograph- 


*FicfeMargry,  I.,  p.  330. 


Dispatch  of  Count  Frontenac.  69 

ical  knowledge  of  this  continent.  His  surname  has  been 
fittingly  preserved  in  the  now  flourishing  city  of  Joliet, 
Illinois,*  and  in  the  nomenclature  of  other  western  locali- 
ties. His  descendants  appear  to  have  inherited  his  virtues 
and  talents ;  and  several  of  them  hold  positions  of  high 
trust  and  responsibility,  civil  and  ecclesiastical,  in  the 
modern  Dominion  of  Canada.  Among  the  number  may 
be  mentioned  the  Hon.  Bartholomew  Joliet,  and  the  emir 
nent  archbishops  Tache  and  Tachereau. 

We  have  nowhere  met  with  any  description  of  the  per- 
sons of  either  Joliet  or  Marquette.  Yet,  in  the  absence  of 
such  word  portraiture,  we  may  well  imagine  the  former  to 
have  been  a  man  of  medium  stature,  with  a  lithe,  agile 
figure,  black  hair  and  eyes,  sharply  cut  features,  and  a 
swarthy  complexion — the  same  being  physical  character- 
istics of  the  average  French-Canadian — while  the  latter 
(Marquette)  was  probably  taller,  and  of  a  more  dignified 
and  commanding  presence. 


Following  is  a  translation  of  Count  Frontenac's  dis- 
patch to  Minister  Colbert  in  relation  to  the  return  of  M. 
Joliet  from  his  voyage  to  discover  the  Mississippi  and  the 

South  Sea : 

QUEBEC,  14th  November,  1674. 

The  Sieur  Joliet,  whom  M.  Talon  advised  me  when  I  arrived  from 
France  to  send  to  discover  the  south  sea,  returned  here  three  months 
since,  and  has  discovered  some  admirable  countries,  and  a  navigation  so 
easy  by  the  fine  rivers,  that  he  found  that  from  from  Lake  Ontario  and 
Fort  Frontenac  they  could  go  in  barques  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  having 
only  to  unload  once,  where  Lake  Erie  falls  into  Lake  Ontario. 

These  are  some  of  the  enterprises  they  could  work  upon  when  peace 
is  established,  and  it  shall  please  the  king  to  push  these  discoveries. 

He  has  been  within  ten  days  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  believes 
that  the  rivers  which  from  the  west  side  empty  into  the  great  river 
which  he  has  discovered,  which  runs  north  to  south  .  .  .  ,  and  that 


*The  name,  in  this  instance,  was  taken  more  immediately  from 
*'  Mount  Joliet,"  a  large  natural  mound  in  the  valley  of  the  Des  Plaines, 
one  and  a  half  miles  southwest  of  the  city. 


70  Dispatch  of  Count  Frontenac. 

they  will  find  some  communication  by  waters  which  will  lead  to  the 
Vermillion  Sea  and  that  of  California. 

I  send  you  by  my  secretary  the  map  which  he  has  made  and  the 
remarks  which  he  is  able  to  remember,  having  lost  all  his  memoirs  and 
journals  in  the  shipwreck  which  he  suffered  in  sight  of  Montreal,  where, 
alter  a  voyage  of  twelve  hundred  leagues,  he  came  near  being  drowned, 
and  lost  all  his  papers  and  a  little  Indian  that  he  was  bringing  back 
with  him. 

He  had  left  at  Lake  Superior,  with  the  Fathers  at  Sault  Ste.  Marie, 
copies  of  his  journals,  which  we  can  not  obtain  until  next  year ;  through 
these  you  will  learn  more  of  the  particulars  of  that  discovery  in  which 
he  acquitted  himself  very  creditably.  FRONTENAC. 


La  Salle  and  His  Early  Explorations.  71 


CHAPTER  IV. 

1666-1680. 
LA   SALLE   AND   HIS    EARLY   EXPLORATIONS. 

While  to  Joliet  and  Marquette  are  rightly  accorded  the 
honor  of  having  first  brought  to  the  knowledge  of  the  civil- 
ized world  the  immense  extent  and  grandeur  of  the  Missis- 
sippi Valley,  yet  the  fortunes  of  the  French  in  this  part  of 
Northern  America  were  greatly  advanced  by  the  energy, 
enterprise,  perseverance,  and  endurance  of  the  Sieur  de 
la  Salle.  If  the  former  had  discovered  and  navigated  the 
Mississippi  River  from  the  Wisconsin  to  the  Arkansas,  it 
was  reserved  for  the  latter  and  his  coadjutors  to  extend  and 
perfect  that  discovery  from  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony  to 
the  Mexican  Sea. 

Robert  Cavelier,  Sieur  de  la  Salle,*  whose  remarkable 
career  now  claims  our  attention,  was  born  at  Rouen  in 
Normandy,  France,  November  22,  1643.  His  father,  Jean 
Cavelier,  and  his  uncle  Henri,  were  opulent  merchants  and 
burghers  of  that  ancient  and  still  stately  city.  The  son  re- 
ceived a  liberal  education,  commensurate  with  the  means 
of  his  parents,  and  with  those  marked  traits  of  intellect  and 
character  which  he  early  exhibited.  As  a  school-boy,  he 
evinced  an  inclination  for  the  exact  sciences,  and  particu- 
larly the  mathematics,  in  which  he  appears  to  have  made 
great  proficiency. 

While  still  a  minor,  La  Salle  became  a  member  of  the 
Society  of  Jesus,  and  studied  and  taught  for  several  years 
in  their  schools.  But  on  attaining  to  man's  estate,  his 
growing  ambition  and  love  of  independence  impelled  him 
to  withdraw  from  that  imperious  and  exacting  order  of  re- 
ligionists. It  is  told  by  one  of  his  biographers  that  "  he 


*  He  is  said  to  have  been  called  La  Salle  from  an  estate  of  that  name 
near  Rouen,  belonging  to  the  Caveliers. 


72  La  SaUe's  Early  Life. 

parted  from  them  on  good  terms,  and  with  an  excellent 
reputation  for  scholarship  and  strict  morals,"  yet  it  is  cer- 
tain that  he  never  afterward  cherished  any  liking  for  the 
order.  In  fact,  his  connection  with  the  Jesuits  caused 
him  to  forfeit,  under  the  rigid  French  law,  the  inherit- 
ance to  which  he  would  otherwise  have  been  entitled  from 
his  father,  who  died  about  that  time.  But  an  allowance 
was  made  to  him  of  four  hundred  livres  a  year  (about 
eighty  dollars),  the  principal  of  which  was  advanced  to 
him  for  the  first  year ;  and,  with  this  insignificant  sum, 
he  quitted  his  paternal  home  and  sailed  for  Canada  in  the 
spring  of  1666. 

We  next  find  our  young  adventurer  at  Montreal, 
whither  he  had  been  preceded  by  his  elder  brother,  the 
Abbe  Jean  Cavelier,  who  was  a  priest  of  the  order  of  St. 
Sulpice,  and  whose  presence  there  was  an  additional  in- 
ducement for  Robert  to  try  his  own  fortune  in  this  newly 
opened  country.  As  before  stated,  the  superior  and  priests 
of  the  Seminary  of  St.  Sulpice  had  become  feudal  proprie- 
tors of  the  large  Island  of  Montreal,  and  wished  to  have 
it  settled  and  improved.  They  now  made  young  La  Salle 
a  liberal  offer,  which,  under  the  advice  of  his  brother, 
he  accepted.  It  was  the  grant,  on  easy  conditions,  of  a 
large  tract  of  wild  land  on  the  north  side  of  the  St.  Law- 
rence, about  ten  miles  above  the  then  village  of  Montreal, 
but  still  on  the  island  of  that  name.  The  locality  was  ex- 
posed to  incursions  from  the  hostile  Iroquois,  but  it  was 
very  conveniently  situated  for  the  fur-traffic.  Taking  pos- 
session of  his  new  domain  in  the  fall  of  1667,  he  marked 
out  the  boundaries  of  a  village,  and  began  to  dispose  of  his 
lands  in  small  parcels,  after  the  French  custom,  to  actual 
settlers,  who  were  to  pay  him  an  annual  rental  therefor. 
The  place  subsequently  took  the  name  of  La  Chine,  which 
was  given  to  it  in  derision  of  its  proprietor's  early  schemes 
for  the  discovery  of  a  western  passage  to  China.  Mean- 
while, to  qualify  himself  for  the  stirring  life  before  him,  he 
commenced  studying  the  Indian  languages,  and  particularly 
the  Iroquois,  in  which  he  made  considerable  proficiency. 

From  his  frontier  post  on  the  banks  of  the  noble  St. 


His  First  Appearance  in  Canada.  73 

Lawrence,  the  thoughts  of  La  Salle  often  wandered  over 
the  distant  and  untrodden  regions  toward  the  setting  sun, 
and,  like  other  inquisitive  and  speculative  minds  of  that 
age,  he  dreamed  of  a  western  water-way  to  the  Pacific 
Ocean.  While  thus  working  and  musing,  he  was  one  day 
visited  by  a  small  band  of  Senecas,*  from  the  south  of  Lake 
Ontario,  who  told  him  of  a  river  called  the  Ohio,  which 
took  its  rise  in  their  country,  and  flowed  off'  to  the  sea,  but 
at  so  great  a  distance  that  it  took  eight  months  to  reach  its 
mouth.  In  this  exaggerated  statement,  the  Alleghany, 
Ohio,  and  Mississippi  were  all  considered  as  one  stream, 
and,  with  the  geographical  ideas  then  prevalent,  it  was  sup- 
posed to  fall  into  the  Sea  of  Cortes,  or  Gulf  of  California. 
The  story  of  these  Indians  so  kindled  La  Salle's  imagination 
that  he  determined  to  make  an  expedition  to  verify  it,  and 
repaired  to  Quebec  to  obtain  Gov.  Courcelles'  approval  of 
the  project.  Both  the  governor  and  intendant  promptly 
gave  him  the  desired  letters  of  authority.  In  fact,  they 
stood  prepared  to  sanction  any  enterprise  that  cost  them 
nothing,  and  yet  promised  an  extension  of  French  traffic 
and  intercourse  among  the  western  Indians.  As  no  pecuni- 
ary aid  was  proffered  by  the  Canadian  officials,  La  Salle 
was  under  the  necessity  of  selling  his  "  concession  "  at  La 
Chine  to  raise  funds  for  his  exploration.  He  accordingly 
disposed  of  his  improvements  there  to  the  superior  of  the 
Seminary  of  St.  Sulpice,  and  with  the  proceeds  of  the  sale, 
amounting  to  twenty-eight  hundred  livres,  purchased  four 
canoes  and  the  requisite  supplies  for  the  expedition. 

At  the  same  time  the  Seminary  was  preparing  for  a 
similar  undertaking.  Emulating  the  example  of  the  Jesu- 
its, the  priests  of  this  association  had  already  founded  a  mis- 
sion at  the  Bay  of  Quinte  f  on  Ontario  Lake,  and  they  now 
proposed  to  extend  their  operations  to  the  tribes  in  the 
distant  west.  An  expedition  was  therefore  set  on  foot  for 
this  purpose,  under  the  management  of  Fathers  Dollier  de 

*  One  of  the  five  tribes  then  composing  the  Iroquois  Nation. 

tThis  mission  was  established  among  the  Cayugas  in  1668,  by 
the  Abbe  de  Fenelon,  a  brother  of  the  author  of  Telemachus,  and  Claude 
Trouve,  but  it  does  not  appear  to  have  been  very  successful. 


74  La  Salle  and  His  Early  Explorations. 

Casson  and  Rene  de  Galinee.  But  on  going  down  to  Que- 
bec to  procure  the  requisite  outfit,  they  were  advised  by 
the  governor  to  modify  their  plans  so  as  to  act  with  La 
Salle  in  exploring  the  unknown  river  to  the  southwest. 
In  accordance  with  his  suggestion  the  two  expeditions 
were  merged  into  one — an  arrangement  ill-suited- to  the 
temper  of  young  La  Salle,  who  was  formed  by  nature  for 
an  untrammeled  leader  rather  than  a  co-partner  in  any  en- 
terprise. 

It  was  on  the  6th  of  July,  1669,  that  the  combined 
party,  numbering  some  twenty -two  men,  with  seven  canoes, 
embarked  upon  the  St.  Lawrence.  Accompanying  them 
were  two  other  canoes,  carrying  the  party  of  Seneca 
Indians  who  had  wintered  at  La  Salle's  settlement,  and 
who  were  to  act  as  guides  and  interpreters.  On  the  2d  of 
August,  after  having  stemmed  the  impetuous  current  of  the 
St.  Lawrence,  and  threaded  the  mazes  of  the  Thousand 
Isles,  the  adventurous  explorers  emerged  upon  the  broad 
and  deep  bosom  of  Lake  Ontario.  Passing  thence  to  a 
small  bay  in  the  southern  part  of  the  lake,  they  were  pi- 
loted by  their  guides  to  the  village  of  the  latter,  near  the 
Genesee  River.  Arrived  there,  they  expected  to  find  other 
guides  to  conduct  them  to  the  sources  of  the  Ohio ;  but 
the  Senecas  refused  to  furnish  a  guide,  and  even  burned 
before  their  eyes  a  young  prisoner  taken  from  one  of  the 
western  tribes,  he  being  the  only  person  who  could  have 
served  them  in  that  capacity.  This,  with  other  unfriendly 
treatment  experienced  by  the  party  of  La  Salle,  caused 
them  to  suspect  that  the  Jesuit  priest  at  the  village,  who 
acted  as  their  interpreter,  was  jealous  of  their  enterprise, 
and  had  purposely  misrepresented  it  to  the  Indians,  in 
order  to  defeat  it.  After  lingering  at  this  place  about  a 
month,  they  had  the  good  fortune  to  meet  with  an  Indian 
from  an  Iroquois  settlement  near  the  head  of  the  lake, 
who  told  them  they  could  there  find  what  they  wanted, 
and  offered  to  be  their  conductor. 

Gladly  accepting  his  proffered  assistance,  the  explorers 
left  the  Senecas  and  coasted  along  up  the  southern 
shore  of  Lake  Ontario,  passing  on  their  way  the  mouth  of 


His  First  Journey  of  Exploration.  75 

the  Niagara,  and  on  the  24th  of  September  reached  the 
village  of  Otinawatawa,  near  the  present  town  of  Hamil- 
ton. Here  they  were  received  by  the  natives  in  a  friendly 
manner,  and  La  Salle  was  presented  with  a  Shawanoe  pris- 
oner, who  assured  him  that  the  Ohio  could  be  reached  in 
six  weeks'  time,  and  that  he  would  guide  his  party  thither. 
Pleased  with  this  proposal,  they  were  about  to  set  out  on 
the  journey,  when  they  unexpectedly  learned  of  the  arrival 
of  two  other  Frenchmen  at  a  neighboring  village.  One  of 
them  proved  to  be  Louis  Joliet,  who  was  returning  to  Que- 
bec from  a  trip  to  Lake  Superior.  He  gave  to  the  Sulpitian 
priests  a  copy  of  a  map  that  he  had  made,  representing 
such  parts  of  the  upper  lakes  as  he  had  visited,  and,  at  the 
same  time,  told  them  of  the  Pottawatomies  and  other  tribes 
in  that  region,  who  stood  in  great  need  of  spiritual  in- 
struction. 

On  receiving  this  piece  of  information,  the  missionaries 
resolved  that  the  Indians  on  those  lakes  must  not  sit  in  outer 
darkness,  and  that  the  discovery  of  the  Mississippi  might 
be  effected  as  well  by  a  northern  route,  as  by  going  farther 
southward.  La  Salle  remonstrated  without  avail  against 
their  determination,  for  it  was  in  accordance  with  their 
original  design.  He  had  been  troubled  for  some  time  with  an 
intermittent  fever,  and  finding  his  remonstrance  unheeded, 
he  informed  them  that  his  physical  condition  would  not 
admit  of  his  accompanying  them  farther.  This  plea  of 
sickness  was  no  doubt  a  ruse  to  bring  about  a  separation, 
which  was  now  agreed  upon.  After  the  solemnization 
of  mass  La  Salle  and  his  men  fell  back  to  Lake  Ontario ; 
while  the  Sulpitians  descended  Grand  River  to  Lake  Erie, 
and  thence  pursued  their  voyage  up  the  lakes.  On  arriving 
among  the  Indians  at  Ste.  Marie  du  Saut,  they  found,  as  La 
Salle  had  surmised,  the  Jesuit  fathers  already  established  in 
that  western  region,  and  that  they  wanted  no  assistance  from 
the  priests  of  St.  Sulpice.  The  latter  therefore  retraced  their 
lonely  course,  and  reached  Montreal  on  the  18th  of  June,  1670, 
without  havingbegun  any  mission  or  converted  any  Indians.* 

*  But  De  Galinee,  after  his  return,  made  the  earliest  map  of  the  Upper 
Lakes  known  to  exist.— Parkman's  "  La  Salle  and  the  Great  West,"  p.  21. 


76  La  Salle  and  his  Early  Explorations. 

The  course  pursued  by  La  Salle,  after  his  separation 
from  the  Sulpitian  priests,  is  involved  in  obscurity.  It  is 
affirmed  that  some  of  his  men  now  forsook  him  and  re- 
turned to  La  Chine,  which  is  not  improbable.  He  is  known 
to  have  kept  private  journals  or  records  of  his  explorations 
at  this  period,  which  were  in  existence  as  late  as  1756,  but 
they  never  saw  the  light  of  print.  The  only  contempo- 
raneous and  connected  record  of  his  movements  is  contained 
in  a  pamphlet  bearing  the  title  of  "  Histoire  de  Monsieur  de 
la  Salle"  It  gives  an  account  of  his  explorations  and  of  the 
state  of  parties  in  Canada  prior  to  the  year  1678,  and  pur- 
ports to  have  been  derived  by  its  unknown  writer  from  La 
Salle  himself,  in  the  course  of  a  dozen  conversations  had  with 
him  in  Paris,  whither  he  had  gone  from  Canada  in  the  au- 
tumn of  1677.  According  to  this  anonymous  memoir,  La 
Salle,  after  leaving  the  head  of  Lake  Ontario,  went  to  a 
village  of  the  Onondagas,  in  what  is  now  New  York,  where 
he  obtained  guides,  and  thence  made  his  way  southward 
to  a  tributary  of  the  Ohio  (probably  the  Alleghany),  which 
he  descended  to  the  main  river,  and  followed  it  "  as  far 
as  to  a  rapid  that  obstructed  it,"  at  the  site  of  what  is 
now  Louisville.  It  is  asserted  by  some  writers  that  he 
continued  his  descent  of  the  Ohio  from  that  point  to  its 
confluence  with  the  Mississippi,  but  this  is  no  doubt  a 
fiction.* 

This  tour  of  exploration  is  supposed  to  have  been 
made  during  the  fall  and  winter  of  1669-70 ;  for  it  ap- 
pears that  the  celebrated  voyageur,  Nicholas  Perrot,  met  La 
Salle  in  the  early  summer  of  1670,  hunting  with  a  party  of 
Iroquois  on  the  Ottawa.  That  he  discovered  the  Ohio,  is 
a  pretty  well  authenticated  fact.  He  himself  affirmed  it, 

*  "  Pierre  Margry,  a  recent  French  writer,  asserts  that  in  1670-'71 
La  Salle  descended  the  Ohio  to  the  Mississippi  (Dussieux,  Canada,  p. 
37) ;  but  the  proof  has  not  been  given,  and,  not  improbably,  is  a  delu- 
sion, as  no  notice  of  the  fact  appears  in  any  document  of  the  time,  and 
the  friends  of  La  Salle  would  not  be  likely  to  omit  an  expedition  giving 
him  a  priority  to  the  discovery  of  the  Mississippi ;  nor  would  La  Salle, 
having  a  post  at  Niagara,  overlook  the  advantages  of  following  the  same 
course  to  the  Mississippi."— Note  by  J.  G.  Shea  to  Washington's  Diary 
of  his  tour  to  the  Ohio  in  1753,  printed  in  New  York,  1860. 


His  Discovery  of  the  Ohio.  77 

in  a  memorial  addressed  to  Count  Frontenac  in  1677. 
Moreover,  his  rival,  Joliet,  made  two  maps  of  the  region 
of  the  Mississippi  and  great  lakes,  on  both  of  which  the 
Ohio  is  laid  down,  though  not  correctly,  with  inscrip- 
tions to  the  effect  that  it  had  been  explored  by  La  Salle. 
But  his  exploration  of  this  noble  river  (which  the  French 
appropriately  named  La  Belle  Riviere,  from  the  Iroquois 
word  signifying  beautiful),  was  not  sufficiently  extensive  to 
reveal  its  true  character,  nor  to  disclose  the  fact  that  the 
Wabash  was  simply  one  of  its  tributaries. 

With  regard  to  La  Salle's  peregrinations  during  the 
years  1671  and  1672,  we  learn  from  the  apocryphal  memoir 
before  cited,  that  he  embarked  with  an  exploring  or  trading 
party  on  Lake  Erie,  ascended  the  Detroit  and  St.  Clair  to 
Lake  Huron,  passed  the  Straits  of  Michilimackinac  into 
Lake  Michigan,  and  on  to  the  southern  extremity  of  this 
lake  ;  that  he  thence  crossed  the  country  to  a  river  (the 
Illinois)  flowing  to  the  southwest,  which  he  followed  to  the 
Mississippi,  and  thence  down  that  stream  to  the  36th  par- 
allel of  latitude.  Arrived  thither,  and  being  convinced 
that  the  great  river  had  its  discharge  in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico, 
he  returned  on  his  course,  intending  at  some  future  time  to 
explore  it  to  its  mouth. 

Little,  if  any,  weight  can  be  allowed  to  the  above 
incredible  story.  La  Salle  was,  at  this  period,  leading  the 
life  of  a  coureur  de  bois.  It  is  doubtless  true  that  he  was 
employed  in  some  work  of  exploration.  Indeed,  it  appears 
from  an  official  despatch  of  M.  Talon  in  1671,  that  he  had 
been  "  sent  southward  and  westward  to  explore  " ;  but  this 
may  have  only  referred  to  the  region  south  of  the  lower 
lakes,  and  it  is  not  unlikely  that  at  this  time  he  made  the 
discovery  of  the  Ohio.  Mr.  Parkman,  in  his  "  La  Salle  and 
the  Discovery  of  the  Great  West,"  after  learnedly  discussing 
this  obscure  and  controverted  portion  of  La  Salle's  career, 
thus  concludes:  "La  Salle  discovered  the  Ohio,  and  in  all 
probability  the  Illinois ;  but  that  he  discovered  the  Mississippi 
has  not  been  proved,  nor,  in  the  light  of  the  evidence  we 
have,  is  it  likely  to  be."  For  our  own  part,  we  very  much 
question  if  he  ever  saw  the  Illinois  River,  or  any  branch  of 


78  La  Salle  and  His  Early  Explorations. 

it,  prior  to  December,  1679,  though,  as  suggested  by  Mr. 
Shea,  he  might  have  reached  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Joseph 
in  Lake  Michigan. 

The  expedition  of  Joliet  and  Marquette  had  well  nigh 
demonstrated  the  fact  that  the  Mississippi  emptied  its  vast 
volume  of  waters  into  the  Mexican  Gulf ;  but  this  was  far 
from  satisfying  the  mind  of  La  Salle,  who  wished  to  see 
and  know  for  himself.  He  had  read  the  published  narra- 
tives of  the  Spanish  adventurers  in  the  southwest,  and 
heard  the  vague  stories  of  the  Indians,  and  he  seems  to 
have  entertained  the  idea  (first  put  forth  in  Marquette's  jour- 
nal) that,  by  ascending  the  Missouri,  or  some  other  western 
affluent  of  the  Mississippi,  it  would  be  found  to  interlock 
with  another  stream  running  southwest  to  the  Vermilion, 
or  Gulf  of  California,  and  thus  afford  the  desired  passage 
to  the  Pacific.^  Nor  was  this  theory  so  chimerical  as  it 
might  first  appear ;  for  by  mounting  the  Platte  River  to  its 
source  in  the  Rocky  Mountains,  one  may  thence  readily 
pass  to  the  headwaters  of  the  Colorado,  which  flows  off 
into,  the  Gulf  of  California.  But,  above  all,  La  Salle  longed 
to  trace  the  Mississippi  itself  to  the  sea,  and  thus  acquire 
for  himself  the  distinction  he  coveted,  and  for  his  sover- 
eign an  embryo  empire.  It  was  several  years,  however, 
before  he  could  resume  and  carry  out  any  of  his  bold 
schemes  of  exploration  and  discovery. 

In  the  meantime,  he  sought  and  gained  the  patronage 
of  Governor  Frontenac.  No  sooner  had  that  astute  func- 
tionary been  installed  in  office,  than  he  eagerly  scanned  the 
resources  of  the  colony,  and  prepared  to  bring  them  under 
his  own  control.  Being  advised  that  the  Iroquois,  at  the 
instigation  of  the  English,  were  intriguing  with  the  Ind- 
ians of  the  upper  lakes  to  break  their  faith  with  the  French, 
and  transfer  their  trade  in  furs  from  Montreal  to  Albany 

*  The  delusive  idea  of  a  water-way  to  the  Pacific  was  partly  derived 
by  the  French  from  the  Spaniards,  who,  during  the  preceding  century, 
had  scoured  the  coasts  of  Mexico  and  Central  America  in  the  vain  quest 
for  a  strait  connecting  the  two  oceans. 


Founding  of  Fort  Frontenac.  79 


and  New  York,  he  determined  to  counteract  that  design 
by  erecting  a  fort  and  depot  near  the  outlet  of  Lake  Onta- 
rio. Not  wishing  to  excite  the  jealousy  of  the  Canadian 
merchants  and  traders,  he  gave  out  that  he  only  intended 
to  make  a  tour  of  observation  to  the  upper  part  of  the  col- 
ony. But,  lacking  means  of  his  own  for  the  enterprise,  he 
required  the  principal  merchants  of  Quebec  and  Montreal 
to  each  furnish  him  with  a  certain  number  of  men  and 
canoes.  When  the  spring  of  1673  had  opened,  he  sent  La 
Salle  in  advance  from  Montreal  to  Onondaga,  to  invite  the 
Iroquois  sachems  to  meet  him  in  council  at  the  foot  of 
Lake  Frontenac  (Ontario),  while  he  followed  at  his  leisure 
up  the  St.  Lawrence.  In  response  to  the  invitation  sent 
them,  the  Indians  resorted  in  considerable  numbers  to  the 
appointed  place  of  meeting,  and  were  well  pleased  with 
the  attentions  there  shown  them  by  the  governor,  who  was 
the  first  Frenchman  to  address  them  by  the  name  of  "  chil- 
dren," instead  of  "brothers."  Cajoled  by  his  blandish- 
ments and  presents,  and  awed  by  his  audacity  and  show  of 
force,  they  acquiesced  in  the  erection  of  a  fort  at  the  mouth 
of  Cataraqui  Creek,  where  Kingston  now  stands. 

The  building  of  this  fort  (which  was  begun  in  July  of 
that  year,  and  was  called  Frontenac  after  its  founder),  was 
in  violation  of  the  existing  regulations  of  the  king,  which 
required  the  fur-dealers  to  carry  on  their  trade  with  the 
natives  within  the  borders  of  the  French  settlements.  Still, 
in  view  of  its  importance  as  a  means  of  overawing  the 
restless  Iroquois,  all  technical  objections  were  waived,  and 
provision  was  made  for  its  maintenance.  "With  the  aid 
of  a  vessel  now  building,"  writes  Frontenac  at  this  time, 
"we  can  command  the  lake,  keep  peace  with  the  Iroquois, 
and  cut  off  the  fur-trade  from  the  English.  With  another 
fort  at  Niagara,  and  a  second  vessel  on  the  river  above,  we 
can  control  the  entire  chain  of  lakes."  These  extensive 
views  accorded  well  with  the  schemes  of  La  Salle,  who,  as 
we  shall  see,  was  soon  employed  in  putting  them  into 
practice. 

In  November,  1674,  LaSalle   embarked  for  France, 


80  LaSatte  and  His  Early  Explorations. 

with  letters  of  recommendation  from  the  governor*  and 
others, 'and,  on  his  arrival  at  Versailles,  presented  two  pe- 
titions to  the  king  (Louis  XIV.) ;  the  one  for  a  patent  of 
nobility,  in  consideration  of  his  valuable  services  as  an  ex- 
plorer; and  the  other  for  a  grant  in  seigniory  of  Fort 
Frontenac  and  the  adjoining  lands.  He  proposed  to  reim- 
burse the  king  for  the  ten  thousand  livres  which  the  new 
post  had  cost  him ;  to  maintain  it  at  his  own  charge,  with 
a  garrison  equal  to  that  of  Montreal,  besides  a  score  of  la- 
borers ;  to  form  a  French  colony  around  it ;  to  build  a 
church  whenever  the  number  of  inhabitants  should  reach 
one  hundred,  and  in  the  meantime  to  support  one  or  more 
Recollet  friars ;  and,  finally,  to  form  a  settlement  of  do- 
mesticated Indians  in  the  neighborhood.  These  liberal 
offers,  on  the  part  of  LaSalle,  were  accepted  by  the  crown ; 
and  by  letters-patent  of  the  13th  of  May,  1675,  he  was 
raised  to  the  rank  of  the  untitled  nobility.f  At  the  same 
time  he  received  a  grant  of  Fort  Frontenac,  and  the  lands 
contiguous,  to  the  extent  of  four  and  one-half  leagues  in 
front  and  one-half  league  in  depth,  besides  the  neighbor- 
ing islan'ds,  and  was  also  invested  with  the  government  of 
the  fort  and  settlement,  subject  to  the  provincial  governor. 
After  LaSalle's  favorable  reception  at  court,  his  more 
wealthy  relations  in  Rouen  advanced  him  considerable 
sums  of  money,  which  put  him  in  position  to  fulfill  the 
more  important  obligations  annexed  to  his  grant,  and  he 
now  returned  to  Canada  the  proprietor  of  what  promised 
to  be  one  of  the  most  valuable  estates  in  the  province. 


*In  a  despatch  to  Minister  Colbert,  of  the  14th  of  November,  1674, 
Frontenac  thus  commends  his  favorite :  "  I  can  not  help,  Monsieur, 
recommending  to  you  the  Sieur  de  la  Salle,  who  is  about  to  go  to  France, 
and  who  is  a  man  of  intelligence  and  ability — more  capable  than  any 
body  else  I  know  here,  to  accomplish  every  kind  of  enterprise  and  dis- 
covery which  may  be  entrusted  to  him,  since  he  has  the  most  perfect 
knowledge  of  the  state  of  the  country,  as  you  will  see  if  you  are  dis- 
posed to  give  him  a  few  moments  of  audience."— Parkman's  Discovery 
of  the  Great  West,  p.  89. 

t  This  was  an  empty  kind  of  honor,  with  which  the  Kings  of  France 
were  wont  to  gratify  the  vanity  and  reward  the  services  of  their  more 
deserving  subjects. 


His  Letters  Patent  from  the  King.  81 

During  the  two  following  years,  while  all  New  France  was 
being  rent  and  torn  by  civil  and  ecclesiastical  feuds,  he  was 
busily  occupied  in  clearing  his  lands,  strengthening  his 
fort,  and  developing  his  seigniory.  In  addition  to  furnish- 
ing the  stipulated  military  and  clerical  forces,  and  erecting 
a  chapel  for  the  use  of  the  latter,  he  built  three  or  four 
decked  boats,  or  brigantines,  to  carry  freight  on  Lake  On- 
tario,— to  the  head  of  which  it  was  next  proposed  to  ad- 
vance. He  was  now  on  the  high  road  to  fortune,  if  riches 
had  been  his  only  object,  and  he  consequently  became  a 
mark  for  the  shafts  of  the  envious  and  malevolent,  or  those 
whose  opinions  and  interests  conflicted  with  his  own. 

Meanwhile,  he  did  not  relinquish  his  favorite  design 
of  exploration.  In  the  autumn  of  1677,  he  again  went  to 
France,  and  laid  his  plans  before  Jean  Baptiste  Colbert, 
then  minister  for  the  colonies,  and  the  great  promoter  of 
French  industry  and  commerce.  LaSalle  dilated  upon  the 
immense  extent  of  the  western  country,  its  endless  natural 
resources,  and  the  advantages  that  would  accrue  from  colo- 
nizing it  and  opening  trade  with  its  numerous  native  tribes. 
For  this  purpose,  he  asked  permission  and  authority  to  ex- 
plore and  build  forts  in  the  western  valleys,  with  seigniorial 
rights  over  all  hands,  that  he  might  discover  and  colonize 
within  the  perio_d  of  twenty  years.  His  petition  was  fa- 
vorably considered  by  thq  minister,  and  Letters  were  accord- 
ingly issued  to  him  by  the  crown.  But  Jie  was  required  to 
complete  his  enterprise  within  five  years  instead  of  twenty, 
as  desired.  Following  is  an  English 'copy  of  this  curious 
and  important  state  paper : 

"  Louis,  by  the  Grace  of  God,  King  of  France  and  Navarre : 
"  To  our  dear  and  well-beloved  Robert  Cavelier,  Sieur 
de  la  Salle : 

"  We  have  received,  with  favor,  the  very  humble  pe- 
tition wrhich  has  been  presented  to  us  in  your  name,  to  per- 
mit you  to  endeavor  to  discover  the  western  part  of  our 
country  of  New  France,  and  we  have  consented  to  this 
proposal  the  more  willingly,  because  there  is  nothing  we 
6 


82  La  Sail e  and  His  Early  Explorations. 

have  more  at  heart  than  the  discovery  of  this  country, 
through  which  it  is  probable  that  a  passage  may  be  found 
to  Mexico ;  and  because  your  diligence  in  clearing  the 
lands  which  we  granted  to  you  by  the  decree  of  our  coun- 
cil of  the  13th  of  May,  1675,  and  by  letters  patent  of  the 
same  date,  to  form  habitations  upon  the  said  lands  and  to 
put  Fort  Frontenac  in  a  good  state  of  defense,  the  seigni- 
ory and  government  whereof  we  likewise  granted  to  you, 
affords  us  every  reason  to  hope  that  you  will  succeed  to  our 
satisfaction,  and  to  our  subjects  of  the  said  country.  For 
these  reasons  and  others  thereunto  moving  us,  we  have  per- 
mitted and  do  hereby  permit  you,  by  these  presents,  signed 
by  our  hand,  to  endeavor  to  discover  the  western  part  of 
our  country  of  New  France,  and  for  the  execution  of  this 
enterprise,  to  construct  forts  wherever  you  shall  deem  it 
necessary ;  which  it  is  our  will  that  you  shall  hold  on  the 
same  terms  and  conditions  as  Fort  Frontenac,  agreeably 
and  conformably  to  our  said  letters,  patent  of  the  13th  of 
May,  1675,  which  we  have  confirmed,  as  far  as  is  needful, 
and  hereby  confirm  by  these  presents.  And  it  is  our 
pleasure  that  they  be  executed  according  to  their  form  and 
tenor. 

"  To  accomplish  this,  and  every  thing  above  mentioned, 
we  give  you  full  powers,  on  condition,  however,  that  you 
shall  finish  this  enterprise  within  five  years,  in  default  of 
which  these  presents  shall  be  void  and  of  none  effect ;  that 
you  carry  on  no  trade  whatever  with  the  savages  called 
Outaouacs,*  and  others  who  bring  their  beaver  skins  and 
other  peltries  to  Montreal ;  and  that  the  whole  shall  be 
done  at  your  expense,  and  that  of  your  company  to  which 
we  have  granted  the  privilege  of  the  trade  in  buffalo  skins ; 
and  we  call  on  the  Sieur  de  Frontenac,  our  governor  and 
lieutenant-general,  and  on  the  Sieur  de  Chesneau,f  intend- 
ant  of  justice,  police  and  finance,  and  on  the  officers  who 
compose  the  supreme  council  in  the  said  country,  to  affix 


*  The  Ottawas. 

t  Jacques  de  Chesneau  had  been  appointed  Intendant  of  New 
France  in  May,  1675.  He  was  an  enemy  of  both  Frontenac  and  La 
Salle. 


First  Great  Expedition  to  the  West.  83 

their  signatures  to  these  presents;  for  such  is  our  pleas- 
ure. 

"  Given  at  St.  Germain  en  Laye,  this  12th  of  May, 
1678,  and  of  our  reign  the  thirty-fifth. 

"By  the  King,  Louis."* 

"  COLBERT." 

Inasmuch  as  no  pecuniary  aid  was  to  be  received  from 
the  government,  La  Salle  had  to  look  to  his  monopoly  of 
the  future  trade  in  buffalo  skins  for  the  support  of  his  ex- 
pensive enterprise.  Meantime,  his  relatives  were  induced  to 
make  him  further  adyances  of  money,  and  some  of  them 
became  shareholders  in  the  venture.  He  also  found  a  use- 
ful ally  in  La  Motte  de  Lussiere,  who  became  a  partner 
in  the  company,  and  who  joined  him  on  the  eve  of  his  em- 
barkation for  Canada.  La  Salle  sailed  from  Rochelle  on 
his  return  the  14th  of  July,  1678,  bringing  with  him  about 
thirty  men,  besides  an  ample  supply  of  stores,  implements 
for  building  vessels,  etc.  After  a  two  months  sea  voyage, 
he  reached  Quebec,  and  thence  proceeded  up  the  St.  Law- 
rence to  his  seigniory  of  Frqntenac.  His  new  enterprise 
aroused  jealousy  and  opposition  from  the  start,  among  the 
.old  Canadian  traders;  but  our  resolute  Norman  was  ac- 
customed to  grapple  with  obstacles  and  opposition,  and  he 
energetically  proceeded  to  organize  his  expedition.  Having 
laid  aside  as  impracticable  his  scheme  of  a  western  passage 
to  China  and  Japan,  and  convinced  that  the  Mississippi 
emptied  into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  he  had  substituted  a 
vast  plan,  which  should  eventually  plant  on  the  shores  of 
the  Gulf  the  national  colors  of  France,  and  open  to  her  the 
whole  interior  of  this  continent. 

Of  the  men  whose  services  La  Salle  had  secured  in 
France,  and  who  were  destined  to  win  honor  with  him 
in  his  great  explorations,  the  most  useful  and  trusted 
was  Henry  de  Tonty,f  or  Tonti,  as  it  is  written  in  Italian. 
He  was  a  native  of  the  Neapolitan  town  of  Gaeta,  Italy, 
where  he  first  saw  the  light  about  the  year  1650.  His 


.  *  Frontenac's  signature  was  affixed  to  this  patent  November  5, 1678. 
t  Tonty  had  been  a  protege  of  the  Prince  de  Conti,  by  whom  he  was 
recommended  to  La  Salle. 


84  La  Salle  and  His  Early  Explorations. 

father,  Lorenzo  di  Tonti,  was  sometime  governor  of  Gaeta, 
but  fled  to  France  to  escape  the  political  disturbances  of  his 
own  country.  He  was  an  ingenious  financier,  and  the  in- 
ventor of  the  Tontine  system  of  annuities,  which  he  intro- 
duced into  France  during  the  latter  part  of  the  seventeenth 
century.  Henry  de  Tonty  entered  the  French  military 
service  in  1668,  and  served  as  a  cadet  two  years.  He  next 
served  four  years  as  a  midshipman,  at  Marseilles  and 
Toulon,  and  made  seven  campaigns,  four  in  ships  and 
three  in  galleys.  While  at  Messina,  Sicily,  he  was  made 
lieutenant  and  then  captain  of  the  first  company  of  a  regi- 
ment of  horse.  In  assisting  to  repel  an  attack  of  the 
enemy  on  the  post  of  Libisso,  his  right  hand  was  shot  off 
by  a  grenade,  and  he  was  taken  prisoner  and  detained  for 
six  months,  after  which  he  was  exchanged.  He  then  re- 
paired to  France  to  obtain  some  favor  of  the  king,  who 
gave  him  three  hundred  livers.  Returning  to  Sicily,  he 
made  a  campaign  as  a  volunteer  in  the  galleys ;  and  when 
the  troops  were  discharged,  being  unable  to  obtain  employ- 
ment on  account  of  the  general  peace,  he  enlisted  under 
La  Salle,  in  his  expeditions  of  discovery. 

Notwithstanding  the  loss  of  his  right  hand  (which, 
however,  was  replaced  by  one  of  iron  or  copper),  and  a 
constitution  apparently  feeble,  his  indomitable  energy  made 
him  the  superior  of  most  men  in  physical  endurance.  His 
experience,  too,  as  a  soldier,  and  his. natural  intrepidity,  well 
fitted  him  for  the  life  of  a  military  explorer.  Moreover, 
his  fidelity  was  such  that  neither  the  frowns  of  adversity, 
nor  the  intrigues  of  secret  or  open  enemies,  could  ever 
swerve  him  from  the  interest  of  his  patron  and  employer. 
The  Sieur  La  Motte,  before  named,  was  also  a  man  of  enter- 
prise and  integrity  of  character,  but  not  so  efficient  or  valua- 
ble an  assistant  to  La  Salle  as  the  little  veteran  De  Tonty. 

The  spiritual  directors,  who  were  selected  by  the  chief 
for  this  memorable  expedition,  were  expected  to  officiate  as 
chaplains  and  missionaries  at  such  forts  and  trading  posts 
as  might  be  established.  Following  are  their  names : 
Father  Louis  Hennepin,  the  first  in  respect  to  ability  and 
enterprise ;  Gabriel  de  la  Ribourde,  venerable  for  his  years, 
and  his  long  and  unselfish  clerical  labors ;  the  amiable  and 


His  First  Great  Expedition  to  the  West.  85 

devoted  Zenobious  Membre ;  and  the  pious  Melithon  Wat- 
teau,  who  was  stationed  at  Niagara  and  made  it  his  mission. 
All  of  these  were  Flemings,  or  natives  of  Flanders,  and  all 
were  Recollet  friars,  of  the  mendicant  order  of  St.  Francis. 
It  would  doubtless  have  been  more  conducive  to  La  Salle's 
interest  if  this  had  been  otherwise,  since  the  Jesuits  already 
occupied  the  upper  lake  region,  and  had  planted  some  mis- 
sions in  the  northern  part  of  the  country  of  the  Illinois. 
Under  such  circumstances,  they  were  naturally  jealous  of 
any  infringement  upon  their  assumed  territorial  jurisdiction 
by  members  of  another  branch  of  the  mother  church,  and 
were  iriclined  to  throw  obstacles  in  the  way  of  the  latter. 

Soon  after  his  return  from  France  to  Fort  Frontenac, 
La  Salle  dispatched  fifteen  men  with  merchandise  to  Mack- 
inac  and  Lake  Michigan,  to  barter  for  furs,  and  instructed 
them,  after  executing  their  commission,  to  repair  to  Green 
Bay,  on  the  border  of  the  Illinois,  and  there  await  his  ar- 
rival. The  first  important  step  in  his  westward  progress,  one 
which  had  been  long  contemplated,  was  to  establish  a  fort 
or  block-house  at  the  outlet  of  the  Niagara  channel.  For 
this  purpose,  on  November  18,  1678,  La  Motte  and  Henne- 
pin  embarked,  with  fifteen  men,  in  one  of  the  brigantines 
that  lay  at  the  landing  of  the  fort,  and  started  up  Lake  On- 
tario. Being  retarded  in  their  passage  by  rough  weather,  it 
was  not  until  the  6th  of  December  that  they  reached  the 
mouth  of  the  Niagara.  Here,  after  several  weeks,  they  were 
joined  by  La  Salle  and  Tonty,  who  had  been  detained  in 
procuring  the  necessary  supplies.  They,  too,  encoun- 
tered adverse  winds  on  the  way,  and  the  pilot  to  whom  La 
Salle  had  intrusted  one  of  his  boats  disregarded  his  instruc- 
tions, and  suffered  her  to  be  wrecked.  The  crew  managed 
to  escape,  but  the  cargo  was  lost,  excepting  the  ropes  and 
anchors  intended  for  use  in  constructing  the  new  vessel. 

The  appearance  of  the  French  upon  the  lake  excited 
the  suspicions  of  the  Seneca  Indians,  who  inhabited  its 
southern  shores,  and  when  it  was  proposed  to  erect  a  fort 
at  the  foot  of  the  mountain  ridge,*  on  the  east  side  of  the 

*The  block-house,   which  La  Salle  afterward   built  where  Fort 
Niagara  now  stands,  was  called  Fort  Conti. 


8|6  La  Salle  and  His  Early  Explorations. 

river,  they  made  objection.  In  order  to  gain  their  consent, 
La  Motte  and  La  Salle  both  visited,  in  turn,  the  principal 
village  of  the  Seneca's  situated  near  the  site  of  the  present 
Rochester,  New  York,  and  distributed  presents  freely 
among  their  chiefs.  Some  diplomacy  was  also  used  by  La 
Salle,  and  in  lieu  of  a  fort,  it  was  finally  agreed  that  the 
Frenchmen  might  erect  a  warehouse.  This  was  now  speedily 
completed  and  inclosed  with  a  palisade.  If  was  used  as  an 
abode  by  the  men  during  the  rest  of  that  winter,  and,  sub- 
sequently, as  a  station  and  place  of  deposit  for  implements 
and  merchandise. 

The  energies  of  La  Salle  were  next  directed  to  the  con- 
struction of  a  sailing  vessel,  with  which  to  navigate  the  up- 
per great  lakes.  The  spot  chosen  for  this  important  experi- 
ment was  at  or  near  the  mouth  of  Cayuga  Creek,*  on  the 
eastern  bank  of  the  Niagara,  and  some  five  miles  above  the 
Falls.  This  difficult  and  tedious  work  (made  doubly  so  by 
their  want  of  proper  facilities)  was  formally  begun  on  the 
22d  of  January,  1679,  and  was  prosecuted  under  the  per- 
sonal supervision  of  the  Sieur  de  Tonty,  whose  knowledge 
of  marine  architecture  was  thus  brought  into  active  requisi- 
tion. The  Senecas,  it  is  averred,  tried  to  burn  the  vessel 
while  on  the  stocks,  but  she  was  launched  by  the  middle  of 
July,  and  was  then  towed  farther  up  the  river  to  be  rigged. 
The  builders  celebrated  her  completion  by  firing  cannon  and 
singing  songs  in  commemoration  of  the  event.  And  well 
they  might  felicitate  themselves  upon  their  achievement ; 
for  she  was  the  first  sail-rigged  and  sea-going  craft  that 
ever  spread  canvas  to  the  breeze  on  our  inland  seas.  The 
little  schotmer  was  armed  with  five  small  cannon  and  three 
large  muskets,  and  on  her  prow  was  carved  the  wooden 
figure  of  a  griifin,t  from  which,  in  compliment  to  the  ar- 
morial bearings  of  Count  de  Frontenac,  she  received  her 

*As  usual  in  such  cases,  the  place  of  the  building  of  the  "  Griffin  " 
is  disputed.  Some  contend  for  a  site  known  as  the  "Old  Ship-yard," 
on  the  Little  Niagara. 

t  Or  griffon,  according  to  the  French  orthography.  The  vessel  was 
of  sixty  tons  burden,  and  was  estimated  by  Hennepin  to  have  cost  sixty 
thousand  livres,  or  about  $12,000 ;  but  this  included  a  cargo  of  furs. 


His  Voyage  in  the  Griffin.  87 

name.  Every  thing  was  now  in  readiness  awaiting  the  re- 
turn of  the  commander,  who  had  gone  to  Fort  Frontenac  to 
replenish  his  stores,  and  was  detained  there  by  pecuniary 
difficulties.  He  arrived  in  the  beginning  of  August,  ac- 
companied by  Friars  Ribourde  and  Membre,  who  were 
going  to  distribute  the  "  bread  of  life  "  among  the  pagan 
tribes  of  the  southwest. 

At  length,  on  the  7th  of  August,  1679,  with  the  dis- 
charge of  small  artillery,  and  the  chanting  of  the  Te  Deum, 
La  Salle  and  his  venturesome  followers  stepped  aboard  the 
new  vessel,  which  was  wafted  by  a  gentle  wind  out  upon 
the  crystal  surface  of  Lake  Erie.  Thus  the  Griffin,  flying 
from  her  mast-head  the  pennon  of  France,  went  forth  as  a 
herald  of  civilization,  and  as  the  forerunner  of  that  un- 
counted multitude  of  schooners,  brigs,  barks,  propellers, 
and  other  smaller  craft,  which  to-day  ply  the  great  lakes  in 
every  direction,  in  the  peaceful  and  gainful  pursuits  of  com- 
merce. After  a  pleasant  navigation  of  five  days,  the  voy- 
agers entered  the  noble  channel  of  the  Detroit,  and  found 
its  forest-studded  banks  filled  with  different  species  of  small 
game,  of  which  they  shot  and  killed  enough  for  their  needs. 
Ascending  thence  through  Lake  St.  Glair,  and  the  connect- 
ing strait,  they  issued  upon  the  sea-like  expanse  of  Lake 
Huron,  and  in  sailing  over  its  dark  and  treacherous  depths 
encountered  a  terrific  storm,  which  threatened  to  speedily 
engulf  their  little  bark,  with  all  onboard.  In  this  extremity 
of  peril,  La  Salle  and  the  friars  fell' upon  their  knees  to  say 
their  prayers,  and  invoked  the  aid  of  St.  Anthony  of  Padua, 
as  the  patron  saint  of  their  expedition.  It  would  seem  that 
the  saint  heard  and  answered  their  prayers ;  for  the  Griffin 
weathered  the  gale,  and,  on  the  next  day,  rode  unscathed 
into  the  Straits  of  Michilimackinac. 

Approaching  the  roadstead  at  the  mission  of  Saint  Ig- 
nace,  they  fired  an  artillery  salute  to  announce  their  ar- 
rival, and,  immediately  after  landing,  repaired  to  the  mis- 
sion chapel  to  return  thanks  to  God  for  their  recent  deliv- 
erance from  the  fury  of  the  elements.  On  this  occasion 
La  Salle  wore  a  scarlet  coat,  trimmed  with  gold  lace,  which 


88  La  Salle  and  His  Early  Explorations. 

he  kept  by  him  for  occasions  of  ceremony.  He  was  re- 
ceived here  by  the  Jesuit  priests  and  traders  with  an  out- 
ward show  of  respect  and  friendship,  though  they  were 
privately  antagonizing  his  enterprise.  The  neighboring  In- 
dians now  swarmed  in  canoes  about  his  armed  vessel,  view- 
ing her  with  mingled  feelings  of  wonder  and  terror. 
While  anchored  at  this  station,  the  commander  found  and 
took  into  custody  four  of  his  men,  whom  he  had  sent  up 
the  lakes  with  merchandise  to  exchange  for  pelts ;  they 
having  disposed  of  the  goods  and  pocketed  the  proceeds. 
At  the  same  time  he  sent  Tonty  to  Sault  de  Ste.  Marie  in 
pursuit  of  others,  who  were  also  caught. 

Weighing  anchor  about  the  2d  of  September,  La  Salle 
continued  his  westward  voyage,  and  next  arrived  at  one  of 
the  islands  in  the  entrance  to  Green  Bay,  jutting  out  from 
Lake  Michigan.  Landing  011  the  island,  he  was  hospitably 
received  by  a  Pottawatomie  chief,  who  had  visited  in  Canada, 
and  here  he  was  also  met  by  the  remainder  of  his  advance 
traders,  who  had  honestly  disposed  of  his  goods  and  collected 
in  return  a  large  quantity  of  furs.  These  were  now  conveyed 
on  board  the  Griffin,  and,  with  other  pelts  procured  during 
her  outward  passage,  were  to  be  carried  to  Niagara  for  the 
benefit  of  his  creditors.  This  transaction  was  in  violation 
of  the  letter  and  spirit  of  La  Salle' s  royal  patent ;  but  his 
pecuniary  necessities  were  such  at  the  time  as  to  justify  or 
excuse  a  liberal  interpretation  of  the  terms  of  that  instru- 
ment. The  pilot  and  five  sailors,  to  whom  he  committed 
the  charge  of  the  Griffin,  were  instructed,  after  they  had 
landed  her  valuable  cargo,  to  return  with  the  vessel  to  the 
southeastern  part  of  Lake  Michigan.  The  Griffin  set  sail 
from  Green  Bay  on  the  18th  of  September,  but  was  never 
afterward  heard  of.  It  would  have  been  better  for  the 
doomed  vessel  if  she  had  never  sailed  on  this  return  trip, 
and  better  still,  perhaps,  if  La  Salle  had  continued  his  own 
voyage  in  her  to  the  head  of  the  lake. 

On  the  next  day  (the  19th),  he  embarked  with  his  re- 
maining men,  fourteen  in  number,  in  four  canoes,  for  the 
mouth  of  the  river  Miamis,  afterward  known  as  the  St. 


His  First  Great  Expedition  to  the  West.  89 

Joseph.*  The  canoes  were  heavily  laden  with  a  forge,  im- 
plements, arms,  etc.,  and  their  progress  was  retarded  by 
tempestuous  weather.  After  a  perilous  passage  along  the 
western  and  southern  shores  of  the  lake,  in  the  course  of 
which  the  voyagers  suffered  keenly  from  hunger  and  ex- 
posure, they  reached  their  destination  about  the  first  of 
November.  Here  they  were  disappointed  at  not  finding 
the  Sieur  de  Tonty,  who  had  started  from  Michilimackinac 
with  a  party  of  twenty  men,  and  was  slowly  making  his 
way  up  the  eastern  side  of  the  lake ;  but  he  did  not  arrive 
until  twenty  days  later.  In  the  interval  of  waiting,  La 
Salle,  to  keep  his  men  from  idleness,  employed  them  in 
building  a  wooden  fort,  eighty  feet  long  and  forty  wide, 
near  the  mouth  of  the  river.  It  was  completed  by  the  end 
of  November,  and  was  named  Fort  Miami,  after  a  neigh- 
boring tribe  of  Indians.  Ample  time  had  now  elapsed  for 
the  return  of  the  Griffin,  and  La  Salle,  being  much  troubled 
at  her  non-arrival,  sent  two  men  down  the  lake  to  look  for 
the  vessel,  and  pilot  her  to  the  entrance  of  the  St.  Joseph. 
Different  opinions  were  entertained  respecting  the  fate  of 
the  Griffin.  Hennepin  believed  that  she  foundered  in  a 
storm  in  the  north  part  of  Lake  Michigan,  which  is  quite 
probable;  others  thought  that  the  Indians  might  have 
boarded  and  burnt  her;  while  La  Salle  himself  long  cher- 
ished the  notion  that  her  pilot  and  crew,  a'ter  disposing  of 
her  valuable  cargo,  sunk  hef ,  and  then  ran  away  with  their 
ill-gotten  gains.  Unfortunately,  the  loss  of  this  much- 
prized  vessel  was  irreparable,  and  it  proved  a  serious  blow 
to  the  success  of  his  expedition. 

But,  without  longer  delay,  on  December  3,  1679,  the 
reunited  party,  numbering  some  thirty-three  persons,  with 
eight  canoes,  began  the  ascent  of  the  St.  Joseph's  River, 
en  route  to  the  Illinois.  It  was  a  miscellaneous  and  rather 
picturesque  company,  comprising  soldiers,  friars,  artisans, 

*At  the  mouth  of  this  river,  several  years  before,  the  Jesuit  Father 
Allouez  had  collected  some  scattered  bands  of  the  Hurons  and  others, 
and  established  a  missionary  station,  thereby  making  it  a  point  known 
to  these  adventurers,  and  one  which,  knowing,  they  would  endeavor  to 
reach.  See  Breese's  Early  Hist,  of  111.,  p.  106. 


90  La  Salle  and  His  Early  Explorations. 

laborers,  coureurs  dcs  bois,  and  a  few  Indians.  After  a 
fatiguing  journey  southward  of  twenty -five  leagues,  in 
which  they  had  often  to  drag  their  canoes  against  the  shal- 
low current  of  the  river,  they  n  eared  the  site  of  the  pres- 
ent city  of  .South  Bend,  Ind.  Thence  a  portage  was  made 
of  two  or  three  miles  to  the  headwaters  of  the  Te-a-ki-ki 
(Kankakee),  which  they  reached  with  the  assistance  of  a 
Mohegan  Indian,  whom  La  Salle  had  employed  in  the 
double  capacity  of  guide  and  hunter  for  the  expedition. 
The  winter  had  now  fully  set  in,  the  earth  being  thickly 
mantled  with  snow,  and  as  the  adventurers  paddled  their 
weary  way  down  the  narrow,  torturous  stream,  flowing 
through  reedy  and  frozen  marshes,  the  whole  landscape 
presented  a  most  cheerless  aspect.  To  increase  their  mis- 
ery, they  were  distressed  by  the  pangs  of  hunger  until  re- 
lieved by  the  fortunate  capture  of  a  large  buftalo,  which 
was  found  struggling  in  the  mire  of  the  river,  and  was  soon 
slaughtered.  Being  thus  regaled,  they  resumed  their  canoes 
and  reached  without  accident  the  junction  of  the  Kankakee 
and  the  Des  Plaines,  which  unite  to  form  the  Illinois  River. 
Gliding  rapidly  down  the  channel  of  the  latter,  the 
voyagers  shortly  entered  a  region  of  bolder  and  more  strik- 
ing scenery.  On  the  right  they  passed  the  elevation  called 
Buftalo  Rock,  standing  out  like  an  island  in  the  valley,  and 
farther  down,  on  their  left,  appeared  the  tall  clift',  since 
known  as  Starved  Rock.  A  mile  or  more  below  it,  on  the 
north  bank  of  the  here  expanded  river  (named  by  Henne- 
pin  the  Illinois  Lake),  stood  the  principal  town  of  the  Illi- 
nois nation,  in  which  were  counted  four  hundred  and  sixty 
lodges.  These  were  made  in  the  shape  of  long  arbors,  with 
a  frame-work  of  posts  and  poles,  and  covered  with  double 
mats  of  flat  flags,  so  well  sewed  together  that  they  were 
impervious  to  rain  or  snow.  Each  lodge  had  four  or  five 
fires,  and  each  fire  served  one  or  two  families.  It  was  here, 
about  the  25th  of  December,  that  La  Salle  and  his  hungry 
followers  landed,  in  order  to  procure  some  maize,  of  which 
they  stood  sorely  in  need;  but,  as  had  been  foreseen,  they 
found  the  village  deserted  and  silent,  its  inhabitants  being 
away  on  their  usual  winter  hunt.  Some  of  the  Frenchmen, 


He  Arrives  at  Peoria  Lake.  91 

however,  discovered  a  supply  of  the  desired  grain  stored  in 
pits,  and  of  it  they  took  enough  to  supply  their  wants,  in- 
tending to  pay  for  the  same  when  the  owners  should  be 
met.  After  resting  and  refreshing  themselves  for  a  short 
time,  they  re-embarked  and  continued  their  course. 

On  New  Year's  day,  1680,  the  voyagers  again  landed 
to  hear  mass,  which  was  solemnized  by  the  friars,  and  the 
exercises  were  closed  by  Hennepin  with  an  encouraging 
address  to  the  men.  Two  days  afterward,  1hey  entered 
that  irregular  expansion  of  the  Illinois  River  (from  seven  to 
eight  leagues  in  length)  called  Lac  Pimiteoui,  or  Lake  Peo- 
ria, meaning  "the  place  of  fat  beasts."  Moving  on  cau- 
tiously toward  the  south  end  of  the  lake,  where  the  river 
resumes  its  ordinary  width,  they  perceived  smoke  rising 
above  the  bare  tree  tops,  denoting  the  presence  of  Indians, 
and  on  turning  a  sharp  bend  saw,  on  both  sides  of*  the 
stream,  a  number  of  pirogues,  and  about  eighty  cabins 
filled  with  people.  This  was  on  the  morning  of  the  fifth 
day  after  leaving  the  great  village.*  Having  some  reason 
to  suspect  an  uncivil  reception  from  the  savages,  La  Salle 
now  formed  his  small  flotilla  into  a  line  across  the  river,  so 
as  to  present  as  formidable  an  array  as  possible.  As  they 
thus  swept  down  the  stream  to-  the  village,  some  of  the  dis- 
mayed natives  took  to  flight,  and  others  seized  their  arms 
to  make  resistance;  but,  in  the  midst  of  their  confusion, 
our  little  band  of  Frenchmen  sprang  ashore,  armed  and 
equipped  for  action.  Awed  by  the  bold  and  martial  bear- 
ing of  the  latter,  the  Indians  deputed  two  of  their  chiefs 
to  present  the  peace  calumet,  which  La  Salle  promptly 
recognized  by  showing  one  in  turn,  and  thereupon  a 
friendly  intercourse  was  opened  between  them.  This  was 
succeeded  by  a  feast,  at  which  the  more  obsequious  of  the 
savages  rubbed  the  uncovered  feet  of  the  friars  with  bear's 
oil,  while  others  fed  their  guests  with  buft'alo  meat,  putting 
the  first  three  morsels  into  their  mouths  with  much  cere- 
mony, as  a  mark  of  great  civility. 

When  the  feast  was  ended,  M.  de  la  Salle  informed 

*  See   Hennepin's  Description  de  la   Louisiane;    Shea's   translation 
(N.  Y.,  1880),  p.  156. 


92  La  Salle  and  His  Early  Explorations. 

Nicanope,  and  tne  other  principal  men  of  the  tribe,  that  in 
descending  the  river  he  had  stopped  at  their  great  town, 
and  had  taken  some  corn  from  their  pits  to  supply  the 
necessities  of  his  men,  but  that  he  was  prepared  to  make 
them  full  compensation.  He  then  proceeded  to  explain  the 
purpose  of  his  visit,  saying,  in  substance,  that  he  had  come 
to  raise  a  fort  in  their  neighborhood  to  protect  them  From 
the  incursions  of  the  Iroquois,  and  also  to  build  a  large 
canoe,  in  which  to  descend  the  "great  river"  to  the  sea  and 
thence  bring  back  goods  to  exchange  for  their  peltry.  He 
further  told  them  that  if  his  plans  did  not  meet  with  their 
approval,  he  would  pass  on  to  the  Osages  and  Missouris, 
and  give  them  the  benefit  of  his  trade  and  protection. 
These  Peoria  Indians  readily  assented  to  what  he  said 
about  his  plans  and  purposes,  and  were  profuse  in  their 
expressions  of  friendship  and  good  will.  Yet,  despite  all 
this,  it  soon  became  apparent  to  La  Salle 'that  secret  ene- 
mies were  striving  to  thwart  his  enterprise,  and  that  the 
minds  of  the  savages  had  been  prejudiced  against  him  in 
advance. 

A  few  days  afterward  there  arrived  at  this  village  a 
Mascoutin  chief  named  Monso,  or  Monsoela,  who  came 
equipped  with  presents  and  accompanied  by  several  Miamis 
braves,  and  who  held  nightly  conclaves  with  the  head  men 
of  the  village.  He  professed  to  have  been  sent  to  warn  the 
Illinois  against  the  designs  of  La  Salle,  of  whom  he  spoke 
as  an  intriguer  and  friend  of  the  Iroquois,  and  that  he  had 
come  among  the  Illinois  only  to  open  the  way  to  their  ene- 
mies, who  were  coming  on  all  sides  to  destroy  them.* 
Having  thus  re-aroused  the  distrust,  of  the  fickle-minded 
Peorias,  the  crafty  chief  and  his  party  hastened  away  un- 
der the  cover  of  night.  In  the  altered  and  reserved  de- 
meanor of  the  natives,  La  Salle  now  met  a  fresh  difficulty, 
which  taxed  all  his  address  and  knowledge  of  the  Indian 
character  to  overcome.  It  was  not  without  reason  that  he 
attributed  the  meddlesome  visit  of  the  Mascoutin  chief  to 
the  machinations  of  the  Jesuit  Father  Allouez,  whose  prin- 


Membre's  Narrative  in  Le  Clercq. 


Building  of  Fort  Creve-cceur.  93' 

cipal  station  was  among  the  Miamis,  but  who  had  been  at 
the  great  town  of  the  Illinois  only  a  few  months  before. 

To  add  to  the  commander's  vexations,  some  of  his  own 
men,  who  had  been  discontented  from  the  start,  now  be- 
came sullen  and  mutinous,  and  endeavored  to  stir  up  disaf- 
fection among  the  better  disposed.  Not  succeeding  in  this 
to  their  satisfaction,  they  held  private  interviews  with  the 
Illinois  to  excite  their  ill-will  against  La  Salle.  As  a  last 
resort,  the  malcontents  sought  his  life  by  secretly  putting 
poison  in  his  food.  The  effect  of  the  poison,  however,  was 
neutralized  by  the  timely  taking  of  an  antidote,  and  no  ill- 
results  followed.  This  was  an  age  of  poisoning,  the  prac- 
tice having  been  introduced  into  France  from  Italy ;  and  it 
appears  that  a  similar  attempt  had  been  made  against  the 
life  of  La  Salle,  not  very  long  before,  at  Fort  Frontenac. 
Shortly  after  the  departure  of  the  Mascoutin  chief,  six  of 
the  Frenchmen,  including  some  of  the  best  workmen,  basely 
deserted  their  employer,  and  set  off  on  their  return  to  Can- 
ada. To  this  dastardly  course  they  were  partly  influenced 
by  previous  disaffection,  and  partly  by  the  dangers  of  the 
expedition,  which  had  been  artfully  magnified  to  their 
minds  by  the  Indians.  In  order  to  stay  further  desertions, 
La  Salle  called  the  remaining  men  together,  and  told  them 
that  he  did  not  intend  to  take  with  him  any  but  those  who 
would  go  willingly,  and  that  he  would  leave  the  others  at 
liberty  in  the  spring  to  return  to  Canada,  whither  they 
might  go  without  risk  and  by  canoe ;  whereas,  they  could 
not  then  undertake  it  but  with  evident  peril  to  their  lives.* 

It  was  now  mid-wdnter,  and  the  commander,  wearied 
with  his  accumulating  difficulties,  and  finding  it  impractica- 
ble to  proceed  farther  to  the  south,  resolved  to  erect  a  fort, 
which  might  afford  shelter  and  security  to  his  company 
until  the  opening  of  spring.  The  site  chosen  for  this  first 
European  fortification  in  Illinois  was  a  moderate  sized  hill, 
or  termination  of  a  ridge,  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  river 
(as  shown  by  Franquelin's,  and  Hennepin's  old  maps),  and 
about  half  a  league  below  the  outlet  of  the  lake  where  the 


*  Hennepin's  "Description  of  Louisiana,"  p.  173. 


94  La  Salle  and  His  Early  Explorations. 

explorers  had  first  landed.  The  precise  location  of  the. 
fort,  of  which  not  a  vestige  remains,  is  clouded  with  doubt' 
and  controversy.  Some  would  fix  it  at  the  village  of  Wes-» 
ley  City,  four  miles  below  the  present  city  of  Peoria;  while* 
others,  with  rather  more  show  of  reason,  contend  for  a  site* 
higher  up  the  river,  and  over  against  the  northern  suburbs  • 
of  Peoria.  Interest  in  the  subject  has  revived  from  time, 
to  time,  and  the  relative  claims  of  these  two  different  sites- 
were  elaborately  discussed  through  the  Peoria  press  in  Jan-  • 
uary,  1890.* 

La  Salle's  men  worked  with  a  "good  grace"  on  the 
fort,  and  by  the  first  of  the  ensuing  March,  1680,  it  was 
nearly  finished,  and  was  occupied.  It  now  received  the 
significant  name  of  Creve-cceur,  or  Heart  Break;  not,  as 
has  been  often  stated  (on  the  authority  of  a  passage  in 
Hennepin's  "New  Discovery"),  because  of  the  commander's 
dejection  at  the  desertion  of  his  men  and  his  increasing 
difficulties,  but  after  the  fortress  of  Creve-cceur  in  Brabant 
of  the  Netherlands,  which  had  recently  been  taken  by 
the  French  arms  and  demolished.  Such,  more  than  two 
hundred  and  thirteen  years  ago,  was  the  primal  military 
occupation  of  Illinois  by  the  French,  though  no  continuous 
white  settlement  was  established  at  Peoria  Lake  until  nearly 
or  quite  a  century  later.f 


*  In  La  Salle's  day,  when  the  river  carried  a  somewhat  larger  vol- 
ume of  water  than  at  present,  Lake  Pimiteou,  is  described  by  him  as 
consisting  of  "three  small  lakes,  which  intercommunicated  with  each 
other  by  so  many  straits."  (See  part  of  a  letter  by  lp&  Salle  in  vol.  2  of 
Pierre  Margry's  Collection).  The  chief  difficulty  now  is  to  determine 
whether  the  explorer  landed  and  encamped  at  the  foot  of  the  second,  or 
of  the  third  and  lower  sheet  of  water.  As  partly  confirming  La  Salle, 
it  may  be  as  well  to  note  what  M.  Joutel  says  in  his  journal  about  this 
chain  of  lakes.  In  describing  the  passage  of  his  party  up  the  Illinois 
River,  in  1687,  he  writes:  "The  9th  (September),  we  came  into  a  lake 
about  half  a  league  over,  which  we  crossed  and  returned  into  the  chan- 
nel of  the  river,  on  the  banks  whereof  we  found  several  marks  of  the  na- 
tives having  been  encamped.  The  10th,  we  crossed  another  lake  called 
Pimitehouy,  and  returned  to  the  river."— Journal  Historique. 

t  For  a  more  circumstantial  account  of  the  building  of  Fort  Creve- 
coeur,  see  extracts  from  Hennepin's  writings  in  the  next  succeeding 
chapter. 


He  Begins  a  New  Vessel.  96 

While  the  fort  was  building,  La  Salle  put  his  best 
mechanics  to  work  on  a  brigantine,  which,  when  built,  he 
proposed  to  freight  with  buffalo  and  other  skins,  to  be  col- 
lected in  his  descent  of  the  Mississippi,  and  thence  sail  to 
St.  Domingo  or  France,  and  dispose  of  the  cargo.  The 
keel  of  the  new  boat  was  laid,  forty -two  feet  in  length 
by  twelve  in  breadth,  and  work  on  her  hull  was  well 
advanced  by  the  end  of  February.  Being  without  rig- 
ging or  sails  for  his  vessel  (they  having  been  unluckily 
lost  with  the  Griffin),  the  indomitable  leader  now  formed 
the  bold  design  of  returning  over-land  to  Fort  Frontenac, 
to  procure  these  and  other  appliances,  leaving  De  Tonty  in 
command  at  Creve-coeur,  while  Hennepin  should  meantime 
go  up  the  Mississippi  on  a  voyage  of  exploration, — La  Salle 
promising  to  send  men  to  meet  him  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Wisconsin,  on  his  own  return  from  the  East. 


Louis  Hennepin. 


CHAPTER   V. 

1675-1701. 
FATHER    LOUIS    HENNEPIN. 

The  name  of  Father  Hennepin  having  been  already 
introduced  in  connection  with  La  Salle's  history,  it  is 
deemed  proper  to  devote  the  present  chapter  to  a  delinea- 
tion of  his  shifting  and  romantic  career,  since  no  more 
picturesque  and  interesting  personage  is  to  be  found  in 
the  annals  of  French  exploration  and  discovery  in  North 
America. 

About  the  year  of  grace  1640,  in  the  ancient  town  of 
Ath,  in  the  interior  province  of  Hainault,  and  in  what  was 
then  a  part  of  the  Spanish  Netherlands,  but  is  now  a  part 
of  the  kingdom  of  Belgium,  was  born  the  celebrated  Louis 
Hennepin.  With  respect  to  his  early  domestic  life,  we  pos- 
sess no  definite  information.  In  his  writings  he  tells  us 
much  about  himself,  but  very  little  concerning  his  family, 
from  which  it  may  be  inferred  that  he  came  of  obscure 
parentage.  He  appears  to  have  been  sent  to  school  at  a 
tender  age,  and  he  quaintly  informs  us  that  while  prose- 
cuting his  early  studies,  "  he  felt  a  strong  inclination  to 
leave  the  world  and  to  live  in  the  rule  of  strict  virtue." 
He  accordingly  entered  the  monastic  order  of  Saint  Fran- 
cis,* to  spend  his  days  in  a  life  of  religious  austerity.  His 
novitiate  was  made  in  the  Recollet  convent  at  Bethune,  in 


*The  Franciscans  were  an  offshoot  of  the  old  Carmelite  friars,  of 
Mount  Carmel,  Palestine.  The  order  was  first  established  in  Europe  by 
St.  Francis,  of  Assisi,  Italy,  in  the  year  1209.  Through  an  excess  of 
humility,  he  denominated  the  monks  of  his  order  "little  brethren,"  or 
"  friars  minor  "—a  name  by  which  they  are  still  distinguished.  They 
are  also  called  "  gray  friars,"  from  the  color  of  their  dress.  "  It  was  a 
mendicant  order  (says  Breese's  Hist.  111.,  p.  102),  vowed  to  the  lowest 
poverty  and  the  severest  penance ;  gray  coats  and  bare  feet  as  badges  of 
distinction,  and  an  entire  devotion  to  the  precept,  '  preach  my  gospel  to 


His  Youthful  Rambles  in  Europe,  97 

the  province  of  Artois,  France,  and  his  master  of  Novices 
was  Father  Gabriel  de  la  Ribourde,  a  man  eminent  in  the 
order  for  his.  social  position  and  exemplary  life,  who  was 
destined,  at  a  later  day,  to  die  for  the  Faith,  while  labor- 
ing as  a  missionary  among  the  savages  in  America. 

In  order  to  learn  Flemish,  young  Hennepin  went  from 
Bethune  to  Ghent,  where  a  married  sister  of  his  resided, 
and  where  he  stayed  some  time.  As  he  approached  the 
age  of  manhood,  he  manifested  a  strong  propensity  to 
travel  in  foreign  parts,  which  occasioned  his  sister  much 
anxiety.  With  the  consent  of  the  general  of  his  order,  he 
first  set  oft'  to  see  Italy,  and  visited  the  principal  Francis- 
can churches  and  convents  in  that  country,  as  also  in  Ger- 
many. On  returning  home,  he  was  sent  to  the  convent  of 
Halles  in  Hainault,  where  he  discharged  the  duties  of  a 
preacher  for  a  year,  and  then  went  to  Artois.  He  was 
thence  sent  to  Calais,  and  afterward  to  the  convent  of  Biez 
at  Dunkirk,  in  both  of  which  places  he  appears  to  have 
been  employed  to  solicit  alms  for  the  fraternity.  During 
his  sojourn  at  those  seaport  towns,  the  strange  stories  he 
heard  related  by  old  mariners  stimulated  anew  his  curi- 
osity and  desire  to  visit  foreign  lands ;  and  with  a  view  to 
further  gratify  his  taste  for  travel,  he  went  in  the  char- 
acter of  a  missionary  to  the  principal  cities  of  Holland. 
"While  sojourning  in  that  country,  on  August  11,  1674,  he 
was  present,  as  an  assistant  chaplain,  at  the  obstinate  and 
bloody  battle  of  Seneffe,  fought  between  the  Prince  of 
Orange  and  the  Prince  of  Conde,  and  he  there  found 
abundant  occupation  in  relieving  and  comforting  the 
wounded  and  dying  soldiers. 

At  about  this  time  Canada  again  became  a  field  of 
labor  for  the  Recollet  missionaries ;  and  Louis  XIV.,  yield- 
ing to  the  appeal  of  Governor  Frontenac,  ordered  that  five 
Recollet  religious  be  sent  to  Canada,  to  reinforce  th-e  little 


the  heathen,'  marked  its  members.    From  this  and  its  kindred  order, 
the  Dominicans,  has  the  Roman  Church  been  supplied   with  many 
popes,  cardinals,  bishops,  and  other  noted  ecclesiastics,  while  in  saints 
they  have  been  most  wonderfully  fruitful." 
7 


98  Louis  Hennepin. 

community  of  that  order  already  established  there.  Friar 
Hennepin  was  one  of  the  number  chosen  to  go  upon  this 
mission,  which  he  readily  undertook.  Receiving  the  re- 
quisite authority  from  his  superior,  he  repaired  to  the  sea- 
port of  La  Rochelle,  and  there,  in  the  summer  of  1675, 
embarked  in  the  same  ship  with  Francois  de  Laval,  an 
eminent  prelate,  who  had  been  recently  appointed  Bishop 
of  Quebec.  Among  his  other  fellow  passengers  was  La 
Salle,  who  was  now  returning  from  France  to  Canada,  and 
with  whose  fortunes  Hennepin  was  subsequently  to  become 
closely  identified ;  but  for  whom,  at  their  first  meeting,  he 
seems  to  have  formed  no  admiration. 

After  a  somewhat  eventful  voyage,  they  arrived  in  the 
month  of  September  at  Quebec,  where  Hennepin,  was 
shortly  appointed  priest  to  the  cloister  of  the  Hospital  Nuns 
of  St.  Augustine.  As  the  duties  of  this  position  were  not 
onerous,  he  found  time  to  make  frequent  excursions  to  the 
neighboring  French  and  Indian  settlements,  and  visited,  in 
turn,  the  Three  Rivers,  St.  Anne,  Cape  Tourmente,  Bourg 
Royal,  Point  de  Levi,  and  the  Isle  de  St.  Laurent.  On 
these  trips  he  went  by  canoe  in  the  summer  season,  and  in 
the  winter  his  light  luggage  was  drawn  on  the  snow  by  a 
large  dog,  while  he  himself,  on  foot,  was  exposed  to  all  the 
fury  of  the  elements,  with  no  covering  save  his  cloak  and 
hood,  and  with  but  very  little  to  eat.  In  the  fall  of  1676, 
or  the  following  spring,  he  was  sent  with  Father  Luke 
Buisset  to  Fort  Frontenac,  where  they  founded  a  small 
convent.  Soon  after  this,  Hennepin  made  a  journey  to  the 
Jesuit  missions  among  the  Mohawks,  and  others  of  the 
Five  Nations.  Extending  his  tour  to  Albany  (called  Fort 
Orange  by  the  early  Dutch  settlers),  he  was  well  received 
by  the  Catholic  residents,  who,  if  we  may  receive  his  own 
statement,  entreated  him  to  stay  there  and  become  their 
priest. 

When  the  Sieur  de  la  Salle  undertook  his  first  great 
expedition  to  the  West,  he  solicited  Father  Henuepin, 
among  other  of  the  Recollet  friars,  to  accompany  him  as 
a  chaplain  and  missionary.  The  restless  and  inquisitive 
mind  of  Hennepin  was  fascinated  by  the  very  dangers  of 


Hennepin  at  Niagara  Falls.  99l 

so  bold  an  adventure,  of  which  he  was  destined  to  become 
the  principal  chronicler.  Accordingly,  in  November,  1678, 
he  left  Fort  Frontenac  with  the  advance  party  of  the  exr 
pedition  under  La  Motte.  Sailing  slowly  up  Lake  Ontario 
in  a  small  brigantine,  they  reached  the  outlet  of  the  Niagara- 
River  on  the  6th  of  December,  and,  immediately  after  land-, 
ing,  chanted  a  Te  Deum  in  gratitude  for  their  safe  arrival, 
which  was  listened  to  with  silent  wonder  by  a  group  of  the, 
natives  from  a  neighboring  village.  Hennepin,  with  a  few: 
companions,  then  went  in  a  canoe  up  the  river  seven  miles 
to  the  foot  of  the  high  bluff'  or  escarpment  overlooking 
the  lake,  and,  climbing  the  rocky  heights  above  what  is 
now  Lewiston,  soon  came  in  sight  of  the  great  double 
cataract  of  Niagara,  "thundering  in  its  solitude."  We 
should  not  assume  that  the  friar  and  his  party  were  the 
first  Europeans  to  look  upon  these  wonderful  falls,  since 
they  had  been  known  to  the  French  from  the  time  of 
Charnplain ;  yet  he  is  popularly  credited  with  their  dis- 
covery, probably  from  the  circumstance  that  he  wrote  and 
published  the  first  good  description  of  them,  barring  his 
extravagant  estimate  of  their  height.*  Proceeding  with, 
his  companions  along  the  bank  of  the  river  to  the  head  of 
the  rapids,  opposite  the  modern  Canadian  town  of  Chip~ 
pewa,  he  thence  returned  the  next  day,  and  was  the  first 


*  In  his  "  Description  of  Louisiana"  (1683),  Hennepin  writes:  "  The 
river  (Niagara)  plunges  down  a  height  of  more  than  five  hundred  feet,  and 
its  fall  is  composed  of  two  sheets  of  water  and  a  cascade,  with  an  island 
sloping  down  between."  In  his  "  New  Discovery,"  he  increases  the 
height  of  the  falls  to  six  hundred  feet,  and  La  Houtan  fixes  it  at  about 
the  same  figure.  Father  Charlevoix  (Travels  in  North  America,  pp. 
152-3),  in  endeavoring  to  account  for  these  gross  exaggerations,  re- 
marks :  "  It  is  certain  that  if  we  measure  its  height  by  the  three 
mountains  (or  ascents)  which  we  must  first  pass  over,  there  is  not  much 
to  bate  of  the  six  hundred  feet  which  the  map  of  M.  Delisle  gives  it ; 
who,  without  doubt,  did  not  advance  this  paradox  but  on  the  credit  of 
the  Baron  de  la  Houtan  and  Father  Hennepin.  Charlevoix'  own  meas- 
urement of  the  cataract  with  a  cord,  in  1721,  fell  short  of  the  present 
altitude  of  the  American  Fall,  which  is  165  feet. 

In  1750,  seventy  years  after  the  time  of  Hennepin,  the  Great  Falls 
were  visited  and  carefully  described  by  Professor  Kalm,  the  eminent 
Swedish  traveler. 


100  Louis  Hennepin. 

priest  to  offer  mass  at  the  Falls  of  Niagara.  He  then 
began  the  erection  of  a  bark  chapel  on  the  eastern  side  of 
the  river,  near  the  Great  Rock,  where  the  Sieur  la  Motte 
and  his  men  were  building  a  fortified  house.  Shortly  after- 
ward he  accompanied  La  Motte,  and  five  other  Frenchmen 
on  a  journey  of  thirty  leagues  through  the  snow-incumbered 
forests  of  western  New  York  to  the  principal  village  of  the 
Seneca  nation,  to  negotiate  with  the  sachems  for  permis- 
sion to  complete  the  house  or  fort  at  Niagara.  Describing 
the  elders  of  that  village,  Hennepin  graphically  says  :  "  They 
are  for  the  most  part  tall  and  well  shaped,  covered  with  a  sort 
of  robe  made  of  beavers'  and  wolves'  skins,  or  black  squirrels, 
holding  a  pipe  or  calumet  in  their  hands.  The  senators  of 
Venice  dp  not  appear  with  a  graver  countenance,  and  per- 
haps do  not  speak  with  more  majesty  and  solidity  than 
those  ancient  Iroquois." 

After  the  completion  of  the  Griffin,  Hennepin  sailed 
in  her,  with  La  Salle  and  others,  through  Lakes  Erie,  St. 
Clair  and  Huron,  and  reached  Michilimackinac  on  the  26th 
of  August,  1769.  Continuing  his  voyage  in  that  vessel 
with  the  commander  to  Green  Bay,  and  thence  in  canoes 
up  Lake  Michigan  to  the  mouth  of  the  Miamis,  or  St. 
Joseph,  they  shortly  entered  the  country  of  the  Illinois. 
On  their  way  down  the  Illinois  River,  Hennepin  observed 
indications  of  stone-coal,  and  other  minerals,  in  the  upper 
valley  of  that  stream.  The  approach  of  the  explorers  to 
the  outlet  of  Lake  Pimiteoui,  he  thus  narrates : 

"  Toward  the  end  of  the  fourth  day,  while  crossing  a 
little  lake,  formed  by  the  river,  we  observed  smoke,  which 
showed  us  that  the  Indians  were  cabined  near  there.  In 
fact,  on  the  fifth,  about  nine  in  the  morning,  we  saw  on 
both  sides  of  the  river  a  number  of  parakeets  (pirogues), 
and  about  eighty  cabins  full  of  Indians,  who  did  not  per- 
ceive us  until  we  had  doubled  a  point  behind  which  the 
Illinois  were  camped  within  half  gunshot.  We  were  in 
eight  canoes  abreast,  all  our  men  arms  in  hand,  and  allow- 
ing ourselves  to  go  with  the  current  of  the  river."* 


*"  Description  of  Louisiana,"  by  Father  Louis  Hennepin;  trans1 


His  Description  of  Fort  CrSve-Cwur.  101 

Some  two  weeks  after  the  landing  of  the  French  ad- 
venturers here,  and  when  it  was  decided  to  erect  a  fort  in 
the  vicinity  of  their  camp,  Hennepin  went  with  La  Salle  to 
choose  a  site  for  the  same.  Of  the  building  of  this  fort 
the  friar  gives  the  following  descriptive  account : 

"A  great  thaw  having  set  in  the  15th  of  January 
[1680],  and  rendered  the  river  free  below  the  village,  the 
Sieur  de  la  Salle  begged  me  to  accompany  him,  and  we 
proceeded  with  one  of  our  canoes  to  the  place  which  we 
were  going  to  select  to  work  at  this  little  fort.  It  was  a 
little  mound  about  two  hundred  paces  distant  from  the 
bank  of  the  river,  which,  in  the  season  of  the  rains,  ex- 
tends to  the  foot  of  it ;  two  broad,  deep  ravines  protected 
two  other  sides  and  a  part  of  the  fourth,  which  we  com- 
pletely intrenched  by  a  ditch  which  united  the  two  ravines. 
Their  exterior  shape,  which  served  as  a  counterscarp,  was 
fortified  with  good  chevaux  de  friese,  and  (we)  cut  this  emi- 
nence down  steep  on  all  sides,  and  the  earth  was  supported 
as  much  as  was  necessary  with  strong  pieces  of  timber 
(and)  with  thick  planks,  and  for  fear  of  any  surprise  we 
planted  a  stockade  around,  the  timbers  of  which  were 
twenty -five  feet  long  and  a  foot  thick.  The  summit  of  the 
mound  was  left  in  its  natural  figure,  which  formed  an  ir- 
regular square,  and  we  contented  ourselves  with  putting  on 
the  edge  a  good  parapet  of  earth  capable  of  covering  all 
our  force,  whose  barracks  were  placed  in  two  of  the  angles 
of  this  fort,  in  order  that  they  might  be  always  ready  in 
case  of  an  attack. 

"  Father  Gabriel,  Zenobe,  and  I  lodged  in  a  cabin  cov- 
ered with  boards,  which  we  adjusted  with  the  help  of  our 
workmen,  and  in  which  we  retired,  after  work,  all  our  peo- 
ple for  evening  and  morning  prayer,  and  where,  being  una- 
ble any  longer  to  say  mass — the  wine  which  we  had  made 
from  the  large  grapes  of  the  country  having  just  failed  us — 
we  contented  ourselves  with  singing  vespers  on  holidays 
and  Sundays,  and  preaching  after  morning  prayers. 


lated  from  the  French  edition  of  1683,  with  notes,  etc.    By  John  G. 
Shea  (New  York,  1880),  p.  156. 


102  Louis  Hennepin. 

"The  forge  was  set  up  along  the  curtain  which  faced 
the  wood.  The  Sieur  de  la  Salle  posted  himself  in  the 
middle,  with  the  Sieur  de  Tonty ;  and  wood  was  cut  down 
to  make  charcoal  for  the  blacksmith."* 

On  page  175  of  the  same  work,  Hennepin  also  tells  us 
the  fort  "  was  called  Creve-cceur"  and  that  it  was  "  situated 
four  days'  journey  from  the  great  village  of  the  Illinois, 
descending  toward  the  river  Colbert"  (Mississippi).  By 
the  phrase  "  great  village,"  he  undoubtedly  referred  to  the 
one  that  stood  in  the  vicinity  of  The  Rock.  In  his 
second  publication,  entitled  "New  Discovery,"  etc.  (Eng- 
lish edition,  London,  1698-1699,  p.  103),  Hennepin  gives  a 
shorter  account  of  the  construction  of  Fort  Creve-cceur, 
containing,  however,  some  further  particulars,  which  we 
reproduce  here. 

"  I  must  observe,"  he  writes,  "  that  the  hardest  winter 
lasts  not  above  two  months  in  this  charming  country ;  so, 
that  on  the  15th  of  January  came  a  sudden  thaw,  which 
made  the  river  navigable  and  the  weather  as  mild  as  it  is 
with  us  in  the  middle  of  the  spring.  M.  la  Salle,  improv- 
ing this  fair  season,  desired  me  to  go  down  the  river  with 
him  to  build  our  fort.  After  having  viewed  the  country, 
we  pitched  upon  an  eminence  on  the  bank  of  the  river, 
defended  on  that  side  by  the  river,  and  on  two  others  by 
two  ditches  (which)  the  ra,ins  had  made  very  deep  by  suc- 
cession of  time,  so  that  it  was  accessible  only  by  one  way ; 
therefore,  we  cast  a  line  to  join  these  two  natural  ditches, 
and  made  the  eminence  steep  on  every  side,  supporting  the 
earth  with  great  pieces  of  timber.  We  made  a  hasty  lodg- 
ment thereupon,  to  be  ready  to  defend  us  in  case  the  sav- 
ages would  obstruct  the  building  of  our  fort;  but  nobody 
offering  to  disturb  us,  we  went  on  diligently  with  our 
work.  .  .  .  The  fort  being  half  finished,  M.  la  Salle 
lodged  himself  in  the  middle  with  M.  Tonti,  and  every- 
body took  his  post.  We  placed  our  forge  along  the  cur- 


*  Hennepin's  "  Description  of  Louisiana  "  ;  same  edition  as  before 
cited,  pp.  176-178. 


Membre's  Account  of  the  Illinois.  108 

tain,  on  the  east  side,  and  laid  in  a  great  quantity  of  coale 
for  that  use." 

La  Salle's  own  story  of  the  building  of  Creve-cceur,  ae 
related  in  Pierre  Margfy's  work  (vol.  II.),  does  not  differ 
essentially  from  that  of  Hennepin,  nor  does  he  appear  to 
fix  its  location  with  any  more  precision.  The  Indians  con- 
tinuing friendly,  the  fort  was  substantially  completed  and 
occupied  before  the  first  of  March. 

In  the  meantime,  Father  Membre  devoted  himself  to 
missionary  instruction  among  the  Illinois,  at  their  village 
or  camp  about  half  a  league  above  the  fort.  La  Salle,  it  ie 
told,  had  made  a  present  of  three  axes  to  one  of  their 
chiefs  named  Oumahouha  (meaning  the  wolf),  on  condition 
that  he  should  adopt  Membre  as  his  son  and  care  for  him. 
The  good  friar  visited  the  Indians  daily  in  their  lodges, 
and  in  spite  of  his  repugnance  to  their  filthy  habits  and 
disgusting  manners,  labored  earnestly,  though  with  scant 
success,  for  their  spiritual  enlightenment.  Marquette  had 
previously  described  the  Illinois  as  having  "  an  air  of  hu- 
manity, which  he  did  not  observe  in  any  of  the  other 
nations  seen  on  his  route."  But  Membre,  after  a  familiar 
acquaintance  with  this  people,  has  portrayed  them  more 
nearly  as  they  really  were,  in  all  their  ignorance  and  degra- 
dation. 

"  The  greater  part  of  these  tribes,"  says  he,  "  and  es- 
pecially the  Illinois,  with  whom  I  have  had  most  inter- 
course, make  (the  coverings  of)  their  cabins  of  double 
mats  of  flat  rushes,  sewed  together.  Their  villages  are  not 
inclosed  with  palisades,  and  being  two  cowardly  to  defend 
them,  they  take  flight  at  the  first  news  of  a  hostile  army. 
They  are  tall  of  stature,  strong  and  robust,  and  good  arch- 
ers. They  had  as  yet  no  fire-arms — we  gave  some  to  a 
few.  They  are  wandering,  idle,  fearful  and  desolate — al- 
most without  respect  for  their  chiefs — irritable  and  thiev- 
ish. The  richness  and  fertility  of  the  country  gives  them 
fields  every-where.  They  have  used  iron  implements  and 
arms  only  since  our  arrival.  Besides  the  bow,  they  use  in  war 
a  kind  of  short  pike  and  wooden  maces.  Hermaphrodites  are 
numerous.  They  have  many  wives,  and  often  take  several 


104  Louis  Hennepin. 

sisters  that  they  may  agree  the  better ;  and  yet  they  are  so 
jealous  that  they  cut  oft'  their  noses  on  the  slightest  provo- 
cation. They  are  lewd,  and  even  unnaturally  so,  having 
boys  dressed  as  women,  destined  for  infamous  purposes. 
.  .  .  They  are,  moreover,  very  superstitious,  although 
they  have  no  religious  worship.  They  are,  besides,  much 
given  to  play,  like  all  the  Indians  in  America  that  I  am 
able  to  know.* 

Having  come  to  the  conclusion  that  Hennepin  might 
be  more  advantageously  employed  than  in  preaching  homi- 
lies to  the  Frenchmen  at  Fort  Creve-cceur,  La  Salle  re- 
quested him  to  lead  an  exploring  party  down  the  Illinois 
and  up  the  Mississippi  river.  The  worthy  friar,  accord- 
ing to  his  own  subsequent  account,  was  very  averse  to  this 
difficult  and  perilous  undertaking,  which  yet  was  to  make 
him  famous.  He  set  up  the  plea  of  bodily  infirmity,  claim- 
ing that  he  had  an  abscess  in  his  mouth,  which  had  lasted 
for  more  than  a  year,  and  which  required  his  return  to 
Canada  for  medical  treatment.  His  excuse,  however,  was 
not  held  sufficient,  since  neither  of  his  two  missionary  as- 
sociates was  so  well  qualified  for  the  bold  task  as  himself; 
Father  Ribourde  being  too  old  and  Membre  too  young. 
"  Anybody  but  me,"  writes  Hennepin,  in  his  New  Discovery, 
"would  have  been  much  frightened  with  the  dangers  of 
such  a  journey,  and  if  I  had  not  put  all  my  trust  in  God,  1 
should  not  have  been  the  dupe  of  La  Salle."* 


*  See  A  Narrative  of  the  adventures  of  La  Salle's  party  at  Fort  Cr6ve- 
coeur,  and  in  the  Valley  of  the  Illinois,  by  Zenobe  Membre ;  printed  in 
LeClercq's  "First  Establishment  of  the  Faith  in  New  France."    En- 
glish translation,  New  York,  1881,  vol.  II,  p.  134. 

*  With  reference  to  this  adventurous  river  voyage,  the  Margry  Re- 
lation has  the  following:   "  At  the  same  time  the  Sieur  de  la  Salle  pro- 
posed to  have  the  route  he  was  to  take  to  the  river  Mississippi  explored 
in  advance,  and  the  course  of  that  river  above  and  below  the  mouth  of 
the  Divine  river,  or  of  the  Illinois.    Father  Louis  Hennepiu  offered  to 
take  this  voyage,  in  order  to  begin  and  make  acquaintance  with  the 
nations  among  whom  he  proposed  to  go  and  settle  to  preach  the  faith. 
The  Sieur  de  la  Salle  was  reluctant  to  impose  this  task  on  him,  but 
seeing  that  he  was  resolute,  he  consented."    See  note  in  Shea's  Henue- 
pin,  p.  179. 


His  Famous  Mississippi  Voyage.  105 

His  cpmpagnons  de  voyage  were  Michael  Ako,  or  Ac- 
'cault,  and  Picard  du  Gay,  a  native  of  Picardy,  whose  real 
name  was  Anthony  Augelle.  Accault  was  tolerably  versed 
in  the  language  of  the  Illinois,  and,  for  this  reason,  and  be- 
cause of  his  experience,  he  was  made  the  business  director 
of  the  party.  Both  of  these  men  were  robust  and  hardy, 
though  physically,  somewhat  smaller  than  Hennepin.  Be- 
sides being  well  clad  and  armed,  they  were  supplied  with 
a  good  canoe,  a  large  peace  calumet,  and  about  one  thousand 
livres  worth  of  goods,  to  be  used  in  trading  with  and  con- 
ciliating the  Indians  who  might  be  met  on  the  river.  The 
little  party  embarked  near  Fort  Creve-cceur,  on  the  even- 
ing* of  the  last  day  of  February,  1680.  La  Salle  and  the 
rest  of  his  men  quietly  escorted  them  to  the  bank  of  the 
river  to  see  them  off,  and  wish  them  a  bon  voyage.  With  a 
parting  benediction  from  the  good  old  Father  Bibourde, 
who  advanced  to  the  waters'  edge  to  bestow  it,  the  voya- 
gers plied  their  light  paddles,  and  were  soon  lost  to  sight 
in  the  shadows  and  bend  of  the  stream. 

The  Lower  Illinois,  on  which  they  were  now  afloat, 
and  which  Hennepin  called  the  Seignelay,  is  described  by 
him  as  being  as  deep  and  broad  as  the  river  Seine,  at  Paris, 
and  as  widening  out  in  several  places  to  a  quarter  of  a 
league.  The  first  Indians  met  on  the  way  were  a  party  of 
the  Peorias,  who  were  returning  up  to  their  village,  and 
who  used  every  effort  to  induce  the  voyagers  to  turn  back 
with  them.  Continuing  to  descend  the  river  until  the  7th 
of  March,  and  having  arrived  within  two  leagues  of  its 
mouth,  they  found  a  tribe  called  the  Maroas,  or  Tamaroas, 
numbering  about  two  hundred  families,  who  wished  to 
take  them  to  their  village,  which  lay  some  distance  below, 
on  the  bank  of  the  "great  river."  Upon  reaching  the 
Mississippi  it  was  discovered  full  of  running  ice,  a  sight 
well  calculated  to  shake  the  strongest  nerves.  Being  de- 


*This  was  the  time  of  their  departure,  as  stated  by  La  Salle,  and  it 
would  seein  to  have  been  selected  on  purpose  to  avoid  observation  and 
annoyance  by  the  neighboring  Indians.  See  LaSalle's  letter  of  Aug. 
22,  1682,  in  Margry,  II.,  p.  245. 


106  Louis  Henncpin. 

tained  from  this  circumstance  till  the  12th  of  March  our 
intrepid  voyagers  re-embarked,  and,  turning  the  prow  of 
their  canoe  against  the  sweeping  current  of  the  unexplored 
river,  continued  to  ascend  it,  slowly  and  with  difficulty,  for 
the  succeeding  four  weeks. 

On  the  llth  or  12th  of  April,  having  passed  the  mouth 
of  the  river  Des  Moines,  they  were  surprised  and  captured 
by  a  war  party  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  Sioux  Indians, 
who  were  coming  down  the  Mississippi  in  fifty  canoes,  in 
pursuit  of  a  band  of  the  Miamis.  Having  made  this  un- 
expected capture,  the  Sioux  warriors  held  a  council,  and 
decided  to  return  to  their  own  country.  Accordingly,  on 
the  next  day,  they  began  their  homeward  voyage,  taking 
with  them  as  prisoners  Hennepin  and  his  two  companions. 
After  a  rapid  navigation  of  nineteen  days,  and  having 
passed  through  Lake  Pepin,  where  the  savages  kept  up  a 
terrible  howling,  they  landed  in  a  cove  of  the  river  a  few 
leagues  below  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony.  Here  the  Sioux 
warriors  hid  their  own  canoes  in  a  clump  of  alders,  and 
then  broke  up  the  canoe  of  the  Frenchmen,  lest  the  latter 
might  return  in  it  to  their  enemies.  They  next  divided 
the  property  of  their  captives,  including  Hennepin's  vest- 
ments and  portable  chapel,  and  distributed  their  persons  to 
three  separate  heads  of  families,  to  take  the  place  of  their 
sons  who  had  been  killed  in  war.  This  being  done,  though 
not  without  sharp  wrangling  among  themselves,  the  Indians 
started  northward  across  the  country  for  their  homes,  taking 
their  captives  with  them.  After  a  hurried  march  of  five 
days,  during  which  the  friar  and  his  companions  had  well 
nigh  perished  from  cold,  hunger  and  fatigue,  they  reached 
the  Sioux  villages  near  Mille  Lacs,  Minnesota,  about  the  5th 
of  May. 

The  savage  dwellers  in  these  northern  villages  were 
called  the  Issati,  or  Isanati,  and  they  formed  one  of  the 
three  divisions  of  the  powerful  Sioux  Nation.*  It  was 

'"The  earliest  record  of  the  Siouan  languages,"  says  Professor  J. 
W.  Powell,  "is  that  of  Hennepin,  compiled  about  3680.  The  earliest 
printed  vocabulary  is  that  of  the  Naudowessie  (i.  e.,  the  Dakota)  in 
Carver's  Travels,  first  published  in  1778."  It  is  worthy  of  mention  hero, 


His  Life  Among  the  Sioux.  107 

with  this  uncouth  people  that  Hennepin  spent  the  ensuing 
summer  and  early  autumn.  He  experienced  some  rather 
hard  usage  at  first,  but,  upon  the  whole,  was  better  treated 
than  might  have  been  expected.  He  was  assigned  to  the  care 
of  a  chief  named  Aquipaguetin,  whom  he  did  not  like,  but 
who  adopted  him  as  a  son,  and  took  him  to  his  lodge  and 
village.  Here,  in  consequence  of  his  enfeebled  condition, 
the  Indians  made  for  him  one  of  their  sweating  baths,  in 
which  he  was  immersed  three  times  a  week,  and  derived 
much  benefit  from  the  treatment.  Regaining  his  health, 
he  studied  the  language  and  manners  of  this  barbarous 
race,  and  acted  as  physician  to  such  of  them  as  required 
his  services.  But  he  did  not  find  among  these  wild  men 
any  encouragement  for  the  exercise  of  his  clerical  func- 
tions. "  I  could  gain  nothing  over  them,"  he  tells  us,  "  in 
the  way  of  their  salvation,  by  reason  of  their  natural  stu- 
pidity." Yet,  on  one  occasion,  he  baptized  a  sick  child 
just  before  its  death. 

At  the  end  of  about  two  months,  Hennepin  and  his 
associates  in  captivity  were  allowed  to  accompany  a  numer- 
ous hunting  and  fishing  party  of  the  Sioux  down  Rum 
River,  from  Mille  Lac  to  the  Mississippi.  Arrived  thither, 
the  restless  friar  and  Du  Gay,  after  obtaining  permission 
from  the  chief,  Ouasicoude,  set  out  in  a  birch  canoe  for  the 
mouth  of  the  Wisconsin,  where  they  hoped  to  meet  some 
Frenchmen  whom  La  Salle  was  expected  to  send  to  meet 
them.  Accault  did  not  accompany  them  on  the  journey, 
as  he  preferred  to  stay  with  the  Indians.  Rapidly  descend- 
ing this  hitherto  unexplored  part  of  the  Mississippi,  our 
two  voyagers  soon  drew  near  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony,  so 
named  by  Hennepin  in  honor  of  his  patron  saint  of  Padua. 
He  describes  the  falls  as  from  forty  to  fifty  feet  high,  with 
an  island  of  pyramidal  form  lying  nearly  midway  the 
stream.*  Carrying  their  light  canoe  and  luggage  below 


that  some  philologists  have  traced  an  apparent  analogy  between  the 
language  of  the  Sioux  and  that  of  the  Tartars  in  northern  Asia. 

*As  late  as  1820,  according  to  Schoolcraft  (H.  R.),  the  perpendicular 
height  of  the  cataract,  in  its  highest  part,  was  about  forty  feet,  its 
breadth  being  twelve  hundred  feet.  But  by  the  constant  reaction  of 


108  Louis  Hennepin. 

the  roaring  cataract,  they  re-embarked,  and  held  on  their 
lonely  way  down  the  sinuous  river  to  the  confluence  of  the 
Wisconsin,  a  distance  of  sixty  French  leagues  from  the 
falls.  Finding  no  Frenchmen  there  to  receive  them,  they 
returned  disappointed,  and  joined  a  large  band  of  the 
Sioux  who  were  hunting  on  the  Chippewa,  a  stream  which 
enters  the  Mississippi  from  the  east  at  Lake  Pepin,  and 
leisurely  followed  them  back  up  the  river. 

At  length,  after  an  irksome  and  anxious  captivity  of 
five  and  a  half  months,  the  friar  and  his  associates  were 
allowed  to  go  free.  Their  release  was  effected  through  the 
opportune  arrival  of  one  of  their  own  countrymen,  Daniel 
Greysolon  du  L'hut,*  who,  with  five  armed  Frenchmen, 
had  penetrated  into  the  Sioux  country  from  Lake  Superior, 
and  made  satisfactory  terms  with  the  savages. 

Toward  the  end  of  September,  Father  Hennepin  and 
his  compatriots — eight  Frenchmen  in  two  canoes — left  the 
Sioux  villages  on  their  return  to  the  French  settlements, 
and  journeyed  south  and  east,  via  the  St.  Francis,  the  Mis- 
sissippi, the  Wisconsin,  and  Fox  Rivers,  to  Green  Bay. 
Thence  they  coasted  around  the  northern  shore  of  Lake 
Michigan  to  Michilimackinac,  where  Hennepin  spent  the 
winter  with  the  Jesuit  Father  Pierson,  a  former  fellow- 


the  water  against  the  underlying  strata  of  soft  sandstone,  and  the  conse- 
quent breaking  off  of  the  upper  and  harder  table  rock,  the  height  of 
the  falls  is  now  reduced  to  fifteen  feet.  Their  natural  beauty  has  also 
been  marred  and  obscured  by  the  erection  of  mills,  and  other  works 
of  civilized  man. 

*  Some  additional  notice  of  the  Sieur  du  L'hut,  or  Du  Luth,  may  be 
acceptable  to  the  general  reader.  He  was  a  native  of  Lyons,  France, 
and  a  cousin  of  the  Sieur  de  Tonty,  whom  he  more  than  once  visited  at 
Fort  St.  Louis  of  the  Illinois.  Having  come  to  Canada  as  a  young  of- 
ficer, he  led  the  life  of  a  military  adventurer,  and  became  noted  for  his 
enterprise  and  hardihood.  In  1686  he  was  ordered  by  De  Nonville,  then 
governor  of  Canada,  to  fortify  the  Strait  of  Detroit.  Proceeding  thither 
with  fifty  men,  he  built  a  stockade  called  Fort  St.  Joseph,  and  occupied 
it  till  the  summer  of  1687,  when  he  headed  a  force  of  French  and  In- 
dians from  the  upper  lakes  in  the  war  against  the  Senecas.  In  1695  he 
was  commandant  at  Fort  Frontenac,  and  retained  this  position  for  some 
years.  He  died  of  chronic  gout,  in  Canada,  during  the  winter  of  1709-'10. 
It  was  doubtless  from  this  noted  Frenchman,  that  the  modern  commer- 
cial city  of  Duluth  derived  its  name. 


He  Returns  to  France.  109" 

townsman,  at  the  mission  of  St.  Ignace.  On  the  29th  of 
the  following  March,  1681,  before  the  ice  had  disappeared 
from  the  straits,  our  restless  friar,  with  a  few  boatmen,  re- 
sumed his  journey  eastward  from  Michilimackinac.*  Drag- 
ging their  canoes  and  provisions  over  the  snow  and  ice  un- 
til open  water  was  reached,  they  then  embarked  and  rowed 
along  the  western  shore  of  Lake  Huron  to  and  through  the 
St.  Clair,  and  thence  over  Lake  Erie  to  the  Falls  of  Niag- 
ara. Making  a  portage  round  the  falls,  they  next  entered 
Lake  Ontario  and  sailed  along  its  southern  side  thirty 
league  to  a  large  village  of  the  Senecas,  where  Hennepin 
stopped  for  a  while  and  renewed  his  acquantance  with  the 
chiefs  of  that  nation.  He  thence  proceeded  to  Fort  Fron- 
tenac,  and  afterward  descended  the  St.  Lawrence  to  Mon- 
treal, where  Governor  Frontenac  then  was.  Here  he  was 
very  graciously  received  by  the  governor,  to  whom  he  gave 
a  graphic  recital  of  his  river  voyages  and  captivity  among 
the  wild  tribes  on  the  upper  Mississippi,  and  showed  him 
the  advantages  to  be  derived, from  their  discovery. 

Taking  ship  at  Quebec  for  Old  France,  Father  Henne- 
pin reached  that  country  again  near  the  close  of  1681,  after 
an  absence  of  six  years.  He  then  went  to  reside  for  a  time 
at  the  Convent  of  St.  Germain-en-Laye.  After  this  he  was 


*  Mackinac,  or  Michilimackinac,  was  then  a  place  of  much  less  con- 
sequence than  in  1688  (seven  years  later),  when  the  Baron  de  la  Hon- 
tan  was  sent  thither  with  a  company  of  French  troops.  He  gives  u& 
this  quaint  yet  interesting  description  of  the  mission  and  settlement : 
"  Missilimackinac  is  certainly  a  place  of  great  importance.  It  lies  in 
latitude  of  forty-five  degrees  and  thirty  minutes;  but  as  to  its  longi- 
tude I  have  nothing  to  say,  for  reasons  expressed  in  my  second  letter. 
'T  is  not  above  half  a  league  from  the  Illinois  Lake  (Michigan).  Here 
the  Hurons  and  Outaous  have  each  a  village ;  the  one  being  severed 
from  the  other  by  a  single  palisade.  ...  In  this  place  the  Jesuits 
have  a  little  house  or  college,  adjoining  to  a  sort  of  church,  and  inclosed 
with  pales  that  separate  it  from  the  village  of  the  Hurons,  These  good 
Fathers  lavish  away  all  their  divinity  and  patience  in  converting  such 
ignorant  infidels.  .  .  .  The  coureurs  de  Bois  have  a  very  small  set- 
tlement here,  though  'tis  not  inconsiderable,  as  being  the  staple  (or 
mart)  of  all  the  goods  that  they  truck  with  the  south  and  west  savages ; 
for  they  can  not  avoid  passing  this  way  when  they  go  to  the  seats  of  the 
Illinese  and  the  Oumamis  (Miamies),  or  to  the  Baye  des  Puant  and  the 
River  Mississippi."— La  Hontan's  Voyages,  English  ed.,  vol.  I.,  pp.  87,  88^ 


110  Louis  Hennepin. 

vicar  and  acting  superior  of  the  Recollets  at  Chateau  Oam- 
bresis,  where  he  was  visited  by  his  former  companion, 
Father  Zenobe  Membre,  about  1683.  Subsequently,  he 
was  Guardian  for  some  three  years  of  the  Recollet  convent 
at  Rentz,  in  Artois.  During  this  time  he  was  requested  by 
his  superior  to  return  to  the  mission  in  Canada,  but  he  de- 
clined to  comply;  his  excuse  being  that  the  "particular  laws 
of  his  religious  order  did  not  oblige  him  to  go  beyond  the 
sea  against  his  will,"  and  that  the  malice  of  his  enemies 
there  would  expose  him  to  perish  among  the  savages. 

At  or  before  the  year  1697,  owing  in  part  to  his  in- 
triguing character,  Hennepin  was  ordered  by  the  Minister 
of  War  to  quit  the  French  realm  ;  and,  with  the  consent  of 
his  superior,  withdrew  into  Holland,  where  he  gained  pro- 
tection at  the  court  of  William  III.  In  order  to  travel  in  that 
country  without  attracting  particular  notice,  he  laid  aside 
his  monastic  garb,  but  did  not  renounce  his  vows,  and  con- 
tinued to  sign  himself  "  Recollect  and  Notaire  Apostolique." 
Becoming  tired  of  Holland,  we  are  told  that  he  offered  to 
return  and  again  go  as  a  missionary  to  America,  but  that 
he  was  not  permitted  to  re-enter  France  for  the  purpose. 
With  respect  to  his  peregrinations  in  the  last  years  of  his 
erratic  and  checkered  life,  we  have  no  authentic  informa- 
tion. It  is  stated  by  some  writers  that  he  went  on  a  pil- 
grimage to  Rome,  and  was  at  the  convent  of  Ara-celi  in 
1701,  but  that  he  returned  thence,  and  died  shortly  after  at 
Utrecht.  He  was  then  probably  sixty-two  years  old. 

During  his  extended  travels  in  North  America,  Friar 
Hennepin  had  kept  a  diary  or  journal,  and  his  first  labor 
on  returning  to  France  was  to  prepare  it  for  publication. 
His  first  and  most  valuable  work,  because  written  from 
personal  observation,  and  without  any  special  motive  to 
prevaricate,  was  published  at  Paris  early  in  January,  1683, 
and  was  dedicated  to  his  Christian  Majesty,  Louis  XIV. 
Its  French  title  runs  as  follows  :  "  Description  de  la  Louisi- 
ane,  novdlement  decouverte  au  sud-ouest  de  la  Nouvelle  France ; 
Avec  la  Carte  du  Pays,  les  moeurs  et  la  maniere  de  vie  des  8au- 
vages.  Dediee  a  sa  Majestie.  Par  le  R.  P.  Hennepin^  Mis- 
sionaire  Recollect  et  Notaire  Apostolique." 


His  Writings.  Ill 

This  book  became  immediately  popular,  both  in  France 
and  the  adjacent  countries,  and  translations  of  it  soon  ap- 
peared in  the  English,  Dutch,  and  Italian  languages.  It 
contains  a  copious  though  desultory  narrative  of  La  Salle's 
first  expedition  to  the  West,  and  of  Hennepin's  own  voy- 
ages and  discoveries  in  connection  therewith  ;  and  despite 
its  author's  egotism  and  propensity  to  magnify  his  individ- 
ual exploits,  the  work  is  equally  entertaining  and  instruc- 
tive. The  style  is  simple  and  natural,  and  the  language 
perspicuous,  though  losing  much  of  its  originality  in  its 
English  dress.  He  was  an  observant  traveler,  using  his  eyea 
wherever  he  went,  and  his  pictures  of  the  wild  country  and 
of  savage  life  are  very  graphic.  He  had  studied  the  In- 
dians attentively,  and  portrays  their  manners  vividly. 

His  second  and  more  comprehensive,  but  less  reliable, 
publication,  did  not  see  the  light  of  print  until  fourteen 
years  after  the  first.  It  is  thus  lengthily  entitled  in  French  : 

"  Nouvelle  Decouverte  d'un  tres  grand  pays,  situe  dans  L' 
Amerique,  entre  le  Noveau  Mexique  et  la  Mer  Glaciate;  Avec 
les  Cartes  et  les  Figures  necessaire,  et  de  plus  L'Histoire  nat- 
urelle  et  morale,  et  les  avantages  qu'  on  peut  tier  par  le  etablisse- 
ment  des  colonies.  Le  tout  dediee  d  su  Majeste  Brittanique, 
Guillaume  III.,  Par  le  Louis  Hennepin"  etc.  A.  Utrecht 
1697,  Amsterdam  1698,  and  London  1698-'99.* 

In  this  book  was  first  inserted  the  narrative  of  Henne- 
pin's pretended  descent  of  the  Mississippi  to  the  Gulf,  and 
and  in  the  preface  thereto,  by  way  of  explanation,  he  says : 
"  'T  is  true  I  published  part  of  it  in  the  year  1684  (1683), 
in  my  account  of  Louisiana,  printed  at  Paris  by  order  of 
the  French  king;  but  I  was  then  obliged  to  say  nothing  of 
the  course  of  the  river  Meschasipi,  from  the  mouth  of  the 
river  Illinois  down  to  the  sea,  for  fear  of  disobliging  M.  la 

*  The  English  of  this  reads  as  follows :  "  New  Discovery  of  a  very 
Great  Country,  situated  in  America  between  New  Mexico  and  the  Icy 
Sea ;  with  some  necessary  maps  and  illustrations,  and,  moreover,  the 
history,  natural  and  moral,  and  the  advantages  that  may  be  had  by  the 
establishment  there  of  some  colonies.  The  whole  dedicated  to  his 
Brittanic  Majesty,  William  III.  By  Louis  Hennepin,"  etc.  Printed  at 
Utrecht  1697,  Amsterdam  1698,  and  London  1698-'99. 


112  Louis  Hennepin. 

Salle,  with  whom  I  began  my  discovery.  This  gentleman 
would  have  the  glory  of  having  discovered  the  course  of 
that  river ;  but  when  he  heard  that  I  had  done  it  two  years 
before  him,  he  would  never  forgive  me,  though,  as  I  have 
said,  I  was  so  modest  as  to  publish  nothing  of  it."* 

Hennepin's  third  and  smaller  work  on  America,  bear- 
ing the  title  of  "  Nouveau  Voyage  d"  un  pais  plue  grand 
que  L' Europe;  avec  les  reflexions  des  enterprises  du  Sieur 
de  la  Salle,  fur  les  mines  de  St.  Barbe"  etc.,  was  issued  at 
Utrecht  in  1698,  and  was  also  dedicated  to  the  King  of 
England  and  Holland,  in  that  style  of  fulsome  adulation 
then  in  vogue.  In  his  prefatory  note  to  this  book,  the  friar 
speciously  replies  to  those  who  had  doubted  the  possibility  of 
his  having  sailed  down  and  up  the  Mississippi  within  the  brief 
time  mentioned  in  his  "  New  Discovery."  The  story  of  his 
feigned  descent  of  that  river  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  obtained 
general  credence  in  this  country,  notwithstanding  the  man- 
ifest difficulty  of  reconciling  its  dates  and  conflicting  state- 
ments, until  the  appearance  of  Spark's  Life  of  La  Salle  (in 
his  series  of  "American  Biographies,"  1844-'47),  since  which 
time  it  has  been  rejected  as  a  fiction.  Hennepin  would 
thus  seem  to  have  been  guilty  of  deliberate  falsehood,  and 
in  seeking  to  rob  La  Salle  of  his  principal  laurel,  he  only 
tarnished  his  own  fame.  La  Salle,  however,  is  not  deserv- 
ing of  any  especial  commiseration  ;  for  it  appears  from  the 
anonymous  brochure  or  memoir  put  forth  in  his  interest, 
in  the  year  1678,  that  he  was  not  unwilling  to  have  the 
world  believe  he  had  discovered  the  Mississippi,  before  the 
historic  voyage  thereon  by  Joliet  and  Marquette. 

"""Before  this  publication,  however,  Tonty's  Relation  had  been 
published,  and,  in  1691,  a  work  entitled :  '  The  Establishment  of  the 
Faith  in  New  France,'  by  the  Recollet  missionary,  Father  (Chretien)  Le 
Clercq,  who  had  derived  his  materials  relating  to  La  Salle's  expedition 
to  the  Gulf  from  the  letters  which  the  Father  Zenobe  Membre,  who  ac- 
companied it,  had  written  to  the  Bishop  of  Quebec.  Parallel  passages 
from  Le  Clercq  and  Hennepin  have  been  examined,  so  closely  resembling, 
in  every  important  particular,  as  to  compel  the  belief  that  Hennepin'g 
publication  of  1698  is  a  piracy  upon  it,  and  a  wicked  attempt  to  deprive 
La  Salle  of  his  hard-earned  honor."— Breese's  Early  Hist.  111.,  p.  128; 
Chicago,  1884. 


His  Writings.  113 

Hennepin  was,  at  this  time,  in  the  service  or  pay  of 
the  Dutch-English  court ;  and  it  is  affirmed  that  he  was  in- 
duced (perhaps  required)  fo  write  a  new  account  of  his 
travels  and  discoveries  in  North  America,  comprising  a  nar- 
rative of  his  alleged  voyage  down  the  Mississippi  to  the  sea, 
in  order  to  favor  the  pretensions  of  King  William  III.,  who 
wished  to  set  up  for  himself  a  claim  to  the  country  of  Lou- 
isiana. This  statement  derives  plausibility  from  the  circum- 
stance that,  in  1699,  two  English  vessels  were  sent  to  ex- 
plore the  passes  of  the  Mississippi.  There  were  also  other 
motives  that  influenced  and  may  help  to  explain  the  friar's 
dubious  conduct.  Among  these  was  his  inordinate  vanity, 
which  seems  to  have  augmented  with  his  years,  and 
prompted  him  to  air  his  personal  grievances,  and  to  pose 
before  the  reading  world  as  a  persecuted  man.  Then  again, 
the  prospective  increase  in  the  sale  of  his  book,  from  the 
insertion  of  new  and  entertaining  matter,  must  have  exer- 
cised no  little  influence/  particularly  with  his  publishers. 

Yet,  apart  from  all  this,  there  are  reasons  for  suspecting 
that  Hennepin  himself  was  not  responsible  for  all  the  fic- 
tions printed  in  his  "  New  Discovery."  The  hand  of  an 
anonymous  and  careless  editor  is  traceable  in  various  parts 
of  the  book,  which  is  said  to  have  been  altered  even  after 
its  first  printing.  This  charitable  view  of  the  matter,  while 
it  lessens  Hennepin's  culpability,  does  not  exculpate  him 
from  censure.  The  whole  truth  about  the  origin  and  appear- 
ance of  his  last  two  publications,  though  inviting  attention 
and  inquiry,  will  probably  never  be  known.* 

But  still,  with  all  his  faults  and  failings  and  caprices, 
Louis  Hennepin  was  no  ordinary  man,  and  his  was  no  or- 
dinary destiny.  Distinguished  not  only  as  a  traveler  and 
Recollet  missionary,  he  was  also  the  first  popular  writer  on 
the  French  in  North  America.  Moreover,  his  memory  is 
lastingly  linked  with  two,  at  least,  of  the  great  natural 

*  For  a  critical  disquisition  upon  this  curious  and  recondite  subject, 
the  inquring  reader  is  referred  to  the  late  Dr.  Shea's  Notice  of  the  Life 
and  Writings  of  Father  Hennepin,  in  his  annotated  edition  of  the  "  De- 
scription de  la  Louisiane"  N.  Y.,  1880. 

8 


114  Louis  Hennepin. 

monuments  of  this  country — the  Falls  of  Niagara  and  the 
Falls  of  St.  Anthony ;  and  it  was  he  who  first  publicly  gave 
the  name  to  that  vast  and  magnificent  territory,  lying  mostly 
on  the  west  of  the  Mississippi,  which  is  still  worn  by  that 
portion  of  it  incorporated  into  the  sovereign  State  of  Lou- 
isiana. 


La  Salle  Returns  to  Fort  Frontenac.  115 


CHAPTER  VI. 

1680-1681. 
LA    SALLE   AND    TONTY. 

It  is  now  time  to  return  to  La  Salle,  the  central  figure 
in  this  important  and  difficult  enterprise.  On  the  second  ot 
March,  two  days  after  the  departure  of  Father  Hennepin 
from  Creve-coeur,  the  resolute  chief  himself  set  forth  on 
his  return  journey  to  Fort  Frontenac.  .  He  left  Tonty,  his 
trusted  lieutenant,  in  command  at  the  Illinois  fort,  with  a 
company  of  fifteen  men,  and  took  with  him  four  French- 
men, besides  his  indispensable  Mohegan  hunter.  The  last 
month  of  the  winter  had  been  extremely  cold,  so  that  the 
passage  of  La  Salle  and  his  little  party  up  the  river  and 
lakes  was  much  obstructed  by  ice,  either  firm  or  drifting. 
At  Peoria  Lake  his  men  had  to  make  sledges  for  their  two 
canoes,  and  drag  them  over  the  frozen  surface.  From 
thence  they  slowly  and  laboriously  advanced,  alternately 
by  land  and  water,  amid  the  chilling  rains  and  melting 
snows  of  the  opening  spring. 

Arriving  at  the  great  town  of  the  Illinois  on  the  llth 
of  March,  they  found  it  still  a  solitude,  and  the  roofs 
of  its  lodges  crested  with  snow,  the  copper-hued  in- 
habitants not  having  as  yet  returned  from  their  winter 
hunt.  Encamping  here,  one  of  the  hunters  killed  a  stray 
buffalo,  and  while  his  men  were  smoking  the  meat  of  the 
animal,  La  Salle  reconnoitered  the  adjacent  country.  Fall- 
ing in  with  three  Illinois  Indians,  he  brought  them  to  his 
camp,  gave  them  food  and  presents,  and  secured  from  them 
a  promise  to  send  provisions  to  his  men  at  the  fort.  Dur- 
ing his  short  stay  at  this  place,  he  attentively  examined 
that  rugged  and  precipitous  cliff',  designated  by  him  as  Lc 
Rocher  (The  Rock),  which  had  been  passed  without  particu- 
lar notice  in  his  previous  trip  down  the  river.  Being  im- 


116  La  Salle  and  Tonty. 

pressed  with  its  rare  capabilities  as  a  defensive  position,  he 
soon  afterward  sent  back  word  to  Tonty  to  occupy  and 
fortify  it. 

Quitting  the  vicinity  of  the  Indian  town  on  the  15th, 
the  leader  and  his  party  continued  their  toilsome  ascent 
of  the  Illinois  and  its  Des  Plaines  branch  until  they  ap- 
proached the  place  where  Joliet  now  stands,  when  further 
navigation  was  rendered  impracticable  by  the  firmness  of 
the  ice  in  the  river.  Here  they  hid  their  canoes,  strapped 
their  luggage  on  their  shoulders,  and  started  over-land  for 
Lake  Michigan,  distant  about  fifty  miles.  The  country  all 
around  was  a  flat  and  dreary  waste,  covered  with  half- 
melted  snow  and  intersected  by  swollen  streams,  some  of 
which  they  forded,. and  others  they  crossed  on  log  rafts. 
On  the  23d  of  March  they  were  cheered  by  glimpses  of  the 
southern  extremity  of  the  lake,  seen  through  the  openings 
in  the  leafless  forest  trees ;  at  night  they  encamped  on  its 
beach,  and  the  next  day  followed  its  sandy  shores  east  and 
northeast  to  Fort  Miami.  Here  La  Salle  found  the  two 
men  whom  he  had  sent  down  the  lake  in  the  preceding 
November  to  look  for  the  Griffin,  they  having  gone  to 
Mackinac  and  returned  without  getting  any  tidings  of  the 
missing  vessel.  He  now  ordered  them  to  proceed  to  the 
fort  on  the  Illinois,  and  gave  them  a  letter  to  carry  to  De 
Tonty.  In  order  to  gain  time,  the  dauntless  chief,  and  his 
travel-worn  companions,  next  turned  their  steps  eastward 
across  the  southern  peninsula  of  Michigan.  Their  journey 
through  its  gloomy  and  trackless  forests  was  one  of  pecu- 
liar hardship,  since  they  could  keep  no  fire  at  night  for  fear 
of  straggling  parties  of  Indians.  Coming  to  a  tributary  of 
the  Detroit,  they  made  a  log  canoe  and  descended  in  it  to 
that  river,  and  thence  marched  across  the  country  some 
thirty  miles  to -Lake  Erie.  Here  they  embarked  in  a  canoe 
and  coasted  the  northern  shore  of  the  lake  as  far  east  as  the 
mouth  of  Grand  River,  and  then  proceeded  overland  to  the 
post  which  La  Salle  had  established  below  the  Falls  of  Niag- 
ara. From  thence,  with  a  party  of  fresh  men,  he  pushed 
down  and  across  Lake  Ontario  to  his  seigniory  of  Fort  Fron- 
tenac,  whither  he  arrived  on  the  6th  of  May,  1680.,  Thus 


La  Sadie's  Financial  Misfortunes,  117 

within  the  brief  interval  of  sixty-five  days,  he  had  per- 
formed an  arduous  journey  through  the  wilderness  of  over 
eight  hundred  miles,  which,  considering  the  season  and 
circumstances  under  which  made,  was  a  most  remarkable 
exhibition  of  pluck  and  physical  endurance. 

Arrived  at  his  seigniory,  La  Salle  found  all  of  his  af- 
fairs in  confusion.  Not  only  had  the  Griffin  been  lost,  with 
her  furs  and  pelts,  but  a  vessel  coming  from  France  with 
a  cargo  for  his  company,  valued  at  2,200  livres,  had  been 
wrecked  on  St.  Peter's  Island,  in  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence ; 
and  several  canoes  loaded  with  his  merchandise  had  been 
swallowed  up  in  the  rapids  of  the  St.  Lawrence.  More- 
over, some  of  his  agents  had  acted  in  bad  faith  with  him,  and 
his  creditors  were  preparing  to  seize  upon  the  residue  of  his 
property.  But,  in  the  presence  of  these  accumulated  mis- 
fortunes, which  would  have  crushed  any  other  man,  he  was 
neither  disheartened  nor  swerved  from  his  purpose.  He  at 
once  hastened  to  Montreal  to  arrange  matters  with  his  prin- 
cipal creditors,  and  such  was  still  his  credit  and  influence 
there,  that  he  was  enabled  to  procure  the  requisite  supplies 
for  continuing  his  great  enterprise.  Returning  from  Mon- 
treal to  Frontenac,  he  was  met  by  two  messengers  just  ar- 
rived with  a  letter  from  Tonty,  stating  that  after  his  de- 
parture from  Fort  Creve-coeur,  a  majority  of  his  men  there 
had  deserted  the  fort,  and  wasted  or  destroyed  such  stores 
as  they  could  not  carry  away.  Following  his  letter,  came 
news  by  two  traders  on  the  lakes  that  the  deserters  had 
destroyed  his  fort  at  the  mouth  of  the  Miamis  or  St. 
Joseph,  and  plundered  his  warehouse  at  Niagara.  Being 
further  informed  that  twelve  of  the  perfidious  wretches  were 
coming  down  the  northern  shore  of  Lake  Ontario  with  evil 
intent,  La  Salle,  with  a  party  of  nine  trusty  men,  sallied  out 
to  meet  them,  and  coming  upon  them  unawares,  killed  two 
and  captured  seven  of  the  number,  whom  he  imprisoned 
at  Frontenac,  to  await  punishment  by  a  civil  tribunal. 

One  of  the  chief  difficulties  attending  the  enterprises 
of  La  Salle,  and  of  other  early  French  explorers  in  the 
West,  was  to  secure  the  services  of  reliable  men.  The  wil- 


118  La  Salle  and  Tonty. 

dernesa  was  in  a  measure  full  of  vagabond  hunters,  known 
as  coureurs  des  bois,  who  had  fled  from  the  restraints  of 
civilization  to  lead  lives  of  license  and  lawlessness,  and 
whose  consequent  freedom  from  care  and  immunity  from 
punishment  for  crime  was  a  constant  allurement  to  draw 
others  from  legitimate  employment.  The  provincial  gov- 
ernment of  Canada  made  stringent  regulations  from  time 
to  time  for  the  suppression  of  this  growing  evil;  but  it  was 
easier  to  enact  such  decrees  than  to  enforce  them. 

On  the  10th  of  August,  having  completed  his  outfit, 
and  engaged  the  services  of  a  lieutenant  named  La  Forrest, 
with  a  company  of  twenty-five  new  men,  La  Salle  again 
set  out  from  his  seigniory  for  the  Illinois  country,  to  "  suc- 
cor the  forlorn  hope  under  Tonty."  Taking  the  most  di- 
rect route,  he  passed  up  the  river  Humber  or  Trent,  crossed 
Lake  Simcoe,  descended  the  Severn  to  the  Georgian  Bay 
of  Lake  Huron,  followed  its  rugged  eastern  coast  to  the 
Manitoulin  Islands,  and  thence  moved  westward  to  the 
French  post  on  the  straits  of  Mackinac.  Finding  it  dif- 
ficult to  replenish  his  stock  of  provisions  there  on  account 
of  the  enmity  and  jealousy  of  the  French  traders,  and  not 
wishing  to  be  delayed,  he  pressed  on  up  Lake  Michigan 
with  twelve  men  and  four  canoes,  leaving  La  Forrest  and 
the  rest  of  the  force  to  follow  so  soon  as  they  could  pro- 
cure the  needed  supplies.  On  November  28th,  the  advance 
party  under  La  Salle  drew  their  boats  ashore  on  the  sandy 
beach  close  to  the  wrecked  fort  of  Miami.  Here,  for  the 
purpose  of  facilitating  his  progress,  he  left  the  bulk  of 
his  stores  in  charge  of  five  men,  and  continued  his  journey 
with  the  remaining  seven.  Ascending  the  river  St.  Joseph 
to  the  portage,  he  thence  crossed  to  the  Kankakee,  and 
rapidly  descended  its  channel  to  the  Illinois. 

After  entering  the  latter  stream,  our  voyagers  found 
the  adjacent  prairies  dotted  over  with  fat  buffaloes,  and  be- 
ing in  want  of  fresh  meat,  they  put  to  shore  and  soon  shot 
a  dozen  or  more  of  these  favorite  animals,  the  flesh  of  which 
they  cut  into  thin  strips  and  dried  in  the  sun  for  future  use. 
Resuming  their  canoes  and  passing  the  Rock,  which 
La  Salle  had  directed  Tonty  to  occupy,  they  saw  no  sign 


La  Satte's  Second  Expedition.  119 

there  of  any  fortification,  and  heard  no  tidings  of  that 
trusted  officer.  Approaching  the  great  town  of  the  Illinois 
nation,  a  scene  of  havoc  and  ruin  was  presented  to  their 
astonished  sight.  A  force  of  five  hundred  Iroquois  war-* 
riors  had  then  recently  invaded  the  western  country,  driven 
away  the  Illinois,  sacked  their  town,  cut  down  their  grow- 
ing corn,  and  rifled  their  corn  pits.  Moreover,  they  had 
despoiled  the  sepulchers  of  the  village  dead,*  scattered 
their  bones  over  the  adjoining  plain,  and  stuck  the  skulls 
in  derision  on  the  charred  poles  of  the  burnt  lodges. 

Having  carefully  inspected  the  scene  of  these  acts  of 
savage  barbarity  and  desecration,  to  ascertain  whether  Tonty 
and  his  band  had  fallen  victims  to  the  vengeance  of  the  in- 
vaders, La  Salle  stationed  three  of  his  men  here  in  conceal-1 
ment  to  keep  a  close  watch,  while  he  continued  with  the 
other  four  to  descend  the  river.  At  different  points  on  the 
way,  he  discovered  the  deserted  camps  of  the  opposing 
Indian  forces,  who  had  moved  southward  in  compact 
bodies  on  both  sides  of  the  stream.  Passing  on  through 
Peoria  Lake,  and  coming  to  Fort  Creve-coeur,  he  found  it 
dismantled,  but  his  unfinished  boat  was  still  on  the  stocks 
and  but  little  injured.  Some  distance  farther  down,  and  a 
little  way  from  the  river,  his  eyes  were  met  by  the  revolt- 
ing spectacle  of  the  half-charred  bodies  of  some  Indian 
women  and  children,  who  had  been  cruelly  burned  at  the 
stake  by  the  Iroquois.  Still  discerning  no  traces  of  his 
lost  men,  La  Salle  went  on  to  the  mouth  of  the  Illinois, 
where  for  the  first  time,  perhaps,  he  beheld  that  great  and 
mysterious  river,  which  he  had  long  desired  to  trace  to  its 
unknown  embouchure  in  the  sea.  It  is  said  that  those 
who  were  with  him  proposed  to  proceed  without  delay 
upon  the  projected  voyage;  but  the  prudent  leader,  having 
his  men  and  resources  dispersed,  and  being  uneasy  about 
the  fate  of  Tonty,  was  compelled  to  wait  a  more  propitious 
opportunity. 

•According  to  the  Jesuit  Father  Rasles,  the  custom  of  the  Illinois 
was  not  to  bury  their  dead,  but  to  wrap  them  in  skins,  and  expose  them 
on  scaffolds,  or  attach  them  by  the  head  and  feet  to  the  boughs  of  trees. 
But  it  appears  that  this  practice  was  not  universal  among  them. 


120  La  Salle  and  Tonty. 

Returning  expeditiously  up  the  Illinois,  he  rejoined 
the  three  men  who  had  been  left  in  hiding  near  the  ruined 
town,  and,  after  procuring  some  half-burnt  maize  from  the 
pillaged  granaries,  the  united  party  re-entered  their  canoes 
and  paddled  up  the  river.  When  they  reached  the  forks, 
and  had  gone  a  short  distance  up  the  Kankakee  branch, 
they  discovered  on  the  bank  a  hut,  containing  a  stick  of 
wood  that  had  been  recently  sawed,  which  was  mistaken 
for  an  indication  that  Tonty  and  company  had  passed  this 
way.  Quitting  the  stream  and  concealing  their  canoes 
near  this  point,  La  Salle  and  his  party  made  their  way 
slowly,  on  foot,  through  blinding  snow  storms,  to  Fort 
Miami,  whither  they  arrived  late  in  January,  1681.*  Here 
the  weather-worn  and  exhausted  travelers  were  warmly 
welcomed  by  La  Forrest  and  his  men,  who,  during  the 
absence  of  the  chief,  had  repaired  the  fort,  cleared  some 
land  on  which  to  raise  a  crop,  and  prepared  material  for  a 
new  vessel  on  the  lake. 

Leaving  La  Salle  within  the  wooden  walls  of  Fort  Miami, 
to  recuperate  his  energies  and  lay  new  plans  for  the  un- 
promising future,  we  must  now  go  back  and  relate  the 
thrilling  adventures  of  the  Sieur  de  Tonty  and  his  com- 
panions. 

As  before  stated,  he  had  been  left  in  command  of  Fort 
Creve-coeur  in  March,  1680,  with  a  garrison  of  fifteen  men. 
Two-thirds  of  these  were  worthless  knaves,  who  disliked 
La  Salle,  took  no  interest  in  his  important  enterprise,  and 
were  ripe  for  revolt  whenever  the  occasion  offered. 
His  departure  for  the  East,  therefore,  was  the  signal  for 
the  open  manifestation  of  their  disaffection.  A  month  or 
more  afterward,  when  the  two  men  whom  the  chief  had 


*  During  this  retrograde  journey,  the  great  comet  of  1680-'81  appeared 
nightly  in  the  heavens,  with  its  brilliant  and  appalling  train,  covering 
an  arc  of  from  sixty  to  ninety  degrees.  According  to  Mr.  Parkman,  La 
Salle,  in  his  correspondence,  coolly  referred  to  the  comet  as  "an  object 
of  scientific  curiosity ;"  whereas  Increase  Mather,  the  eminent  Puritan 
divine  of  New  England,  spoke  of  it  as  ''fraught  with  terrific  portent  to 
the  nations  of  the  earth." 


Tonty  Left  in  Command  at  Creve-coeur.  121 

sent  from  Fort  Miami,  with  a  letter  to  Tonty,  arrived  at 
Creve-coeur,  they  brought  with  them  depressing  intelli- 
gence. They  told  the  already  demoralized  garrison,  "  that 
the  Griffin  was  lost ;  that  Fort  Frontenac  was  in  the  hands 
of  La  Salle's  creditors,  and  that  he  was  without  means  to 
pay  those  in  his  employ."  The  belief  now  pervading  the 
garrison  that  they  would  not  be  paid  excited  a  spirit  of 
mutiny  and  mischief  among  them,  which  shortly  found 
the  desired  opportunity  to  ripen  into  action.  No  sooner 
had  Tonty,  with  a  few  of  the  men,  departed  up  the  Illinois 
River  to  fortify  the  "  Rock,"  as  ordered  by  his  chief,  than 
those  left  behind  proceeded  to  demolish  the  fort,  and  then 
fled,  with  such  arms,  ammunition  and  goods,  as  they  could 
carry  away.  Two  only  of  the  number  remained  faithful, 
one  of  whom  hastened  to  apprise  Tonty  of  what  had  hap- 
pened. Alarmed  at  this  revolt  and  desertion,  he  dis- 
patched four  men,  by  two  different  routes,  to  carry  the 
unwelcome  news  to  La  Salle,  two  of  whom,  as  we  have 
seen,  reached  their  destination. 

The  Sieur  de  Tonty  now  had  with  him  only  five  white 
men,  namely :  the  young  and  spirited  Francois  de  Boisron- 
det,  L'Esperance  (servant  of  La  Salle),  a  Parisian  youth 
named  Etienne  Renault,  and  the  two  friars,  Ribourde  and 
Membre.  With  a  part  of  this  little  band-,  the  lieutenant 
repaired  to  the  deserted  fort,  collected  the  tools,  forge,  etc., 
which  had  not  been  molested,  and  conveyed  them  up  the 
river  to  the  great  town  of  the  Illinois,  where  he  tempora- 
rily fixed  his  quarters.  But,  as  the  sequel  showed,  it  would 
have  been  better  if  the  forge  and  tools  had  been  left  where 
they  were.  For  the  next  five  months  the  Frenchmen, 
while  anxiously  waiting  the  return  of  their  leader,  enjoyed 
the  dubious  hospitality  of  the  savages.  During  this  time 
Tonty  endeavored  to  make  himself  useful  by  teaching 
them  the  construction  of  rude  fortifications  and  the  simpler 
arts  of  military  strategy,  and  the  friars  labored  faithfully 
to  instruct  them  in  the  rudiments  of  Christianity. 

In  this  way  a  fairly  good  understanding  was  maintained 
with  the  natives  until  about  the  first  of  September,  when 
it  was  announced  that  an  army  of  five  hundred  Iroquois 


122  La  Salle  and  Tonty. 

and  one  hundred  Miamis  was  swiftly  marching  into  the 
country.  It  appears  that  a  Shawnee  Indian,  on  his  way 
home  from  a  visit  to  the  Illinois,  had  first  discovered  the 
approach  of  the  invaders,  and  returned  to  warn  his  friends 
of  their  impending  danger.  This  intelligence  created 
the  utmost  consternation  among  the  inhabitants  of  the 
town;  and  Tonty,  who  had  all  along  been  an  object  of 
suspicion,  was  soon  surrounded  by  a  crowd  of  excited  war- 
riors, who  brandished  their  weapons  and  accused  him  of 
being  an  emissary  of  the  enemy.  Owing  to  his  imperfect 
knowledge  of  the  Illinois  language,  he  was  unable  to  ex- 
plain the  situation  to  their  satisfaction,  and  in  their  fury 
they  seized  upon  the  forge  and  implements,  brought 
thither  from  Creve-coeur  and  threw  them  into  the  river. 
Doubting  their  ability  to  successfully  defend  themselves, 
since  most  of  their  young  men  were  away  on  the  war- 
path, they  hurriedly  sent  their  squaws  and  papooses  down 
the  river  to  an  island,  where  they  were  left  in  charge  of 
sixty  old  warriors.  The  remaining  braves,  to  the  number 
of  about  four  hundred,  now  spent  the  night  in  preparing 
themselves  for  battle,  painting  their  faces  and  greasing 
their  bodies.  Early  the  next  day  the  scouts,  whom  they 
had  previously  sent  out,  returned  and  reported  the  Iroquois 
as  near  at  hand,*and  armed  with  guns  and  swords  obtained 
from  the  English.  They  further  reported  that  they  had 
seen  a  chief  with  the  enemy  arrayed  in  the  French  dress, 
and  signified  their  belief  that  it  was  La  Salle.  Thia 
turned  out  to  be  simply  an  Iroquois  warrior,  wearing  a 
European  hat  and  waistcoat,  yet  it  served  to  again  make 
Tonty  an  object  of  dark  suspicion.  Being  surrounded  by 
a  throng  of  infuriated  savages,  who  threatened  his  life,  he 
only  saved  himself  from  their  uplifted  weapons  by  promis- 
ing that  he  and  his  men  would  go  out  with  them  to  meet 
the  common  foe.  Since  no  time  was  to  be  lost,  the  whole 
available  force  of  the  Illinois  now  hurried  across  the  river 
and  took  position  on  the  plain  beyond,  just  as  the  enemy 
stealthily  emerged  from  the  timber  that  skirted  the  banks 
of  the  Big  Vermillion.  Thus  the  two  Indian  armies  soon 
confronted  each  other,  and,  simultaneously  raising  the  war- 


Tonty's  Adventures  with  the  Iroquois.  123 

whoop,  began  to  exchange  shots  and  arrows,  jumping  from, 
side  to  side  to  elude  each  other's  shots.  At  this  crisis,  the 
Sieur  de  Tonty,  knowing  the  Illinois  warriors  to  be  cow- 
ards, and  seeing  that  they  were  outnumbered  and  likely  to 
be  defeated,  determined  to  make  an  effort  at  negotiation, 
and  thus  stay  the  unequal  fight.  Relying  on  the  treaty  of 
peace  then  subsisting  between  the  Iroquois  nation  and  the 
French,  he  laid  aside  his  gun  for  a  necklace  of  wampum 
and  started,  at  the  imminent  risk  of  his  life,  to  meet  the  bel- 
ligerent invaders.  An  Illinois  Indian  accompanied  him 
part  of  the  way,  and  they  separated  themselves  from  the 
main  body  of  the  Illinois,  who  were  actively  skirmishing 
with  the  enemy. 

"  When  I  was  within  gun-shot,"  writes  Tonty,  "  the 
Iroquois  shot  at  us,  seized  me,  took  the  necklace  from  my 
hand,  and  one  of  them  plunged  a  knife  into  my  breast, 
wounding  a  rib  near  the  heart.*  However,  having  recog- 
nized me,  they  carried  me  into  the  midst  of  their  camp,  and 
asked  me  what  I  came  for.  I  gave  them  to  understand  that 
the  Illinois  were  under  the  protection  of  the  King  of  France 
and  the  governor  of  the  country,  and  that  I  was  surprised 
that  they  wished  to  break  with  the  French  and  not  con- 
tinue at  peace.  All  this  time  skirmishing  was  going  on, 
on  both  sides,  and  a  warrior  came  to  give  notice  that  their 
left  wing  was  giving  away,  and  that  they  had  recognized 
some  Frenchmen  among  the  Illinois,  who  shot  at  them.  On 
(hearing)  this  they  were  greatly  irritated  at  me,  and  held 
a  council  on  what  they  should  do  with  me.  There  was  a 
man  behind  me  with  a  knife  in  his  hand,  who  every  now 
and  then  lifted  my  hair.  They  were  divided  in  opinion. 
Tegantouki,  chief  of  the  Tsonnouthouans,  desired  to  have 
me  burnt.  Agoasto,  chief  of  the  Onnontagules,f  wished  to 
have  me  set  at  liberty,  as  a  friend  of  M.  de  la  Salle,  and  he 
carried  his  point.  They  agreed  that,  in  order  to  deceive 
the  Illinois,  they  should  give  me  a  necklace  of  porcelain 
beads  to  prove  that  they  also  were  children  of  the  gov- 

*  Membre  tells  us  that  "  with  his  swarthy  complexion  and  half-sav- 
age dress,  they  took  him  (Tonty)  for  an  Indian." 
t  Onondagas. 


124  La  Salle  <m<l  T<»,l<,. 

ernor,  and  ought  to  unite  arid  make  a  good  peace.  They 
sent  me  to  deliver  this  Dieesagdto  the  IllinoiK.  I  had  much 
difficulty  in  reaching  them,  on  account  of  the  hlood  I  had 
lost.  On  my  way  I  met  the  Fathen  <}abriel  de  L'iliourde 
and  /eiiobe  Member,  who  were  coming  to  look  after  me. 
They  expreHsed  great  joy  that  these  barbarian!  had  not  put 
me  to  death.  We  went  together  to  the  .Illinois,  to  whom  I 
reported  the  sentiments  of  the  [roqupis  toward  them,  adding, 
however,  that  they  must  not  altogether  trust  them."* 

Shortly  afterward  the  Illinois  returned  to  their  village, 
and  many  of  the  Iroquois,  under  different  pretexts,  also 
crossed  the  river  and  disposed  themselves  in  menacing 
groups  about  the  place.  These  hostile  demonstrations,  be- 
ing repeated  the  next  day,  caused  the  more  timid  Illinois 
to  seek  safety  in  flight.  Accordingly,  at  nightfall,  they 
set  fire  to  their  lodges,  and  while  the  attention  of  the 
enemy  was  diverted  by  the  flame  and  smoke  of  the  burn- 
ing, they  secretly  betook  themselves  to  their  canoes,  arid 
dropped  down  the  river  to  join  their  women  and  children. 
Tonty  and  his  companions  remained  behind  to  deal  as  best 
they  might  with  the  faithless  Iroquois.  The  latter  now 
took  possession  of  the  village,  and  intrenched  themselves 
therein. 

Two  days  later,  when  the  Iroquois  observed  the  scouts 
of  the  Illinois  on  the  neighboring  hills,  they  thought  that 
Tonty  had  some  communication  with  them,  and  obliged 
him  and  bin  party  to  remove  from  their  cabin  into  the  fort, 
or  redoubt,  of  the  former.  They  then  requested  Tonty  to 
repair  to  the  Illinois,  and  induce  them  to  make  a  treaty  of 
pacification,  for  their  vaunted  courage  had  subsided.  He 
accordingly  proceeded,  with  Father  Zenobe  'and  a  hostage, 
to  the  camp  'of  the  Illinois.  They  gladly  accepted  the 
peace  proposal,  and  sent  a  hostage  in  return  to  the  Iroquois. 
But  the  inexperienced  Illinois  hostage  soon  disclosed  to  his 
cunning  interviewers  the  numerical  weakness  of  his  people, 

*8ee  M.  de  Tonty's  Memoir  of  1693,  covering  the  period  from  1678  to 
1691.  Friar  Membre,  in  his  account  of  this  exciting  episode,  conveys 
the  idea  that  he  himself  went  with  Tonty  into  the  Iroquois  camp,  but 
this  is  not  sustained  by  Tonty's  Narrative. 


7'»)/y',s'  Aitrriitmrx  irilh  the  //vi'/'/o/x.  1"Jf> 


and  ottered  to  givo  them,  if  they  wished  lor  |>eaeo,  t,he 
heaver  skins  and  some  shivos  which  they  had.  The  Iro- 
quois duet's  wore  now  enraged  at  the  Sieiir  de  Tonty,  and 
loaded  him  with  reproaches  for  having  told  them  that  the 
Illinois  had  twelve  hundred  warriors,  and  that  there  were' 
sixty  Frenchmen  at  the  village.  "I  had  much  difficulty," 
writes  Tonty,  "  in  getting  out  of  the  scrape." 

However,  on  the  next  day,  a  nominal  peace  was  con- 
cluded between  the  representatives  of  the  two  nations,  and 
the  Iroquois  made  some  presents  of  necklaces  and  mer- 
chandise to  the  Illinois.  But,  in  utter  disregard  of  the 
treaty,  the  Iroquois  immediately  began  to  construct  canoes 
of  elm  bark,  with  which  to  descend  the  river  and  fall  upon 
the  Illinois.  In  the  meantime  Tonty  apprised  the  latter  of 
their  danger,  and  advised  them  to  retire  to  some  distant 
nation. 

Shortly  after  these  events  (on  the  10th  of  September), 
Tonty  and  Father  Membre  were  summoned  to  attend  a  coun- 
cil of  the  Iroquois.  It  seems  that  they  still  entertained  a 
wholesome  fear  of  Governor  Frontenac,  under  whose  protec- 
tion the  Illinois  were,  and  did  not  want  to  renew  their  war 
upon  the  latter  in  presence  of  the  Frenchmen.  Their  purpose, 
therefore,  was  to  induce  the  French  to  leave  the  country. 
Accordingly,  when  Tonty  and  Membre  appeared  at  the 
council,  six  parcels  of  beaver  skins  were  brought  into  their 
presence.  And  the  Iroquois  spokesman,  addressing  Tonty, 
said,  that  the  first  two  packages  were  to  inform  M.  de 
Frontenac  that  they  would  not  eat  his  children,  and  that 
he  should  not  be  angry  at  what  they  had  done  ;  the  third 
was  a  plaster  to  heal  the  wounds  of  Tonty  ;  the  fourth  was 
oil  to  anoint  him  and  Membre,  that  they  might  not  be  fa- 
tigued in  traveling  ;  the  fifth  proclaimed  that  the  sun  wa« 
bright;  and  the  sixth,  and  last,  required  them  to  depart  for 
the  French  settlements.* 

These  proffered  gifts  were  scornfully  rejected  by  Tonty, 
who,  in  imitation  of  the  Indian  mode  of  expressing  con- 
tempt, indignantly  kicked  them  away,  and  thus  rebuked 

*Tonty's  Memoir  of  1693. 


126  La  Salic  and  Tonty. 

the  savages  for  their  insolence  and  perfidy.  The  council 
ended  in  recrimination  and  disorder,  and  on  the  next  day 
the  exasperated  chiefs  ordered  the  Frenchmen  to  quit  the 
country  forthwith.  The  Sieur  de  Tonty  had  now,  at  the 
repeated  risk  of  his  life,  tried  every  expedient  to  save  the 
Illinois  rfrom  the  fury  of  the  invaders  of  their  soil  and 
homes,  and  since  by  remaining  longer  he  would  imperil  the 
lives  of  his  own  men,  he  made  a  virtue  of  necessity,  and 
speedily  departed. 

On  the  morning  of  the  llth,  he  and  his  five  compan- 
ions embarked  in  a  wretched  bark  canoe,  with  but  scanty 
supplies,  and  made  haste  up  the  river.  The  same  day, 
about  noon,  the  canoe  broke,  and  they  landed  to  repair  it 
and  dry  their  peltry.  While  some  of  the  men  were  thus 
employed,  Father  Kibourde  imprudently  retired  into  an  ad- 
jacent grove  for  the  purpose  of  saying  his  breviary.  As  he 
did  not  return  when  expected,  Tonty  became  alarmed  for 
his  safety,  and  started  out  with  a  companion  to  hunt  him. 
With  the  quick  eyes  of  woodmen,  they  soon  discovered  the 
tracks  of  Indians,  by  whom  it  was  thought  the  friar  had  been 
seized,  and  they  fired  guns  to  direct  his  return,  if  still  alive. 
Not  seeing  or  hearing  any  thing  of  him  that  afternoon,  in 
the  evening  they  built  fires  along  the  river  bank,  and  then 
withdrew  to  the  opposite  shore,  to  observe  who  might  ap- 
proach them.  Toward  midnight  several  Indians  were  seen 
flitting  about  the  fires,  and  then  vanished  in  the  darkness. 
It  was  afterward  learned  that  they  belonged  to  a  band  of 
young  Kickapoo  warriors,  who  had  been  hovering  for  some 
days  about  the  Iroquois  camp  in  quest  of  scalps.  By  chance, 
it  would  seem,  they  had  fallen  in  with  the  innocent  old 
friar,  whom  they  killed  and  scalped,  hiding  his  body  in  a 
sink,  and  carrying  away  his  breviary,  which  subsequently 
came  into  the  hands  of  one  of  the  "Jesuit  fathers.  Thus 
perished  by  the  war-club  of  the  merciless  savage,  in  the 
sixty-sixth  year  of  his  age,  the  Recollet  father,  Gabriel  de  la 
Bibourde.  He  was  the  only  son  and  heir  of  a  gentleman  of 
Burgundy,  and  had  not  only  renounced  his  inheritance 
and  the  world,  to  enroll  himself  among  the  lowly  children 
of  St.  Francis,  but  even  when  advanced  in  life  and  honored 


Death  of  Father  Ribourde.  127 

with  the  first  dignities  of  his  order,  had  sought  (in  1670)  the 
new  arid  toilsome  mission  of  Canada.* 

While  this  painful  tragedy  was  being  enacted,  the 
Iroquois  invaders,  unrestrained  by  the  presence  of  French- 
men, were  brutally  desecrating  the  sepulchers  of  the  dead 
at  the  great  town  of  the  Illinois,  and  preparing  to  further 
wreak  their  vengeance  upon  the  living.  Starting  down 
the  river  in  pursuit  of  the  retreating  Illinois,  they  steadily 
followed  them  day  after  day  ;  but  as  both  of  the  opposing 
armies  moved  in  close  array,  neither  was  able  to  gain  any 
material  advantage  over  the  other.  At  length,  the  Iroquois 
chiefs  attained  by  strategy  what  their  vaunted  prowess  and 
arms  had  failed  to  achieve.  They  publicly  gave  out  that 
their  object  was  not  to  destroy  the  Illinois,  but  simply  to 
drive  them  from  the  country.  Deceived  by  this  artifice, 
the  Illinois  separated,  some  of  them  descending  the  Missis- 
sippi River,  and  others  fleeing  across  and  beyond  it.  But 
the  Tamaroas  tribe,  more  stupid  or  credulous  than  the  rest, 
lingered  at  their  village,  not  far  below  the  mouth  of  the 
Illinois,  until  they  were  suddenly  attacked  by  a  superior 
force  of  the  enemy.  The  pusillanimous  men  are  said  to 
have  fled  at  the  first  onset,  leaving  their  defenseless  women 
and  children,  numbering  several  hundred,  to  fall  into  the 
hands  of  the  merciless  foe.  Then  followed  those  savage 
butcheries  and  burnings,  the  horrible  evidences  of  which 
were  seen  by  La  Salle  only  a  few  weeks  afterward.  Hav- 
ing scattered  the  timorous  Illinois  in  every  direction,  and 
satiated  their  greed  for  carnage,  the  rapacious  horde  of 
Iroquois  now  set  off  on  a  forced  march  to  their  own  coun- 
try, taking  with  them  a  number  of  captive  squaws  and 
papooses,  whom  they  had  reserved  to  grace  their  triumph 
on  returning  to  their  eastern  homes. 

After  the  melancholy  end  of  Father  Ribourde,  and  the 
ineffectual  search  for  his  body,  Tonty  and  his  men  resumed 
their  toilsome  ascent  of  the  Illinois  River.  On  reaching 
the  forks  of  that  stream,  they  neglected  to  leave  there  any 


t  Shea's  Hist,  of  the  Discov.  and  Explo.  of  the  Miss.  Val.,  page  159, 
note. 


128  La  Salle  and  Tonty. 

mark  or  trace  indicating  their  course,  which  might  have 
served  as  a  guide  to  La  Salle,  and  saved  him  no  little 
trouble.  But  evidently  afraid  of  encountering  some  hos- 
tile band  of  Indians,  they  turned  up  the  Des  Plaines* 
branch  of  the  Illinois,  and  made  their  way  by  short  jour- 
neys to  Lake  Michigan.  Their  aim  was  to  find  an  asylum 
among  the  friendly  Pottawatomies.  After  coasting  the 
lake  shore  for  a  considerable  distance,  their  canoe  became 
disabled,  and  their  provisions  failed  them.  Leaving  one 
man  in  charge  of  their  canoe  and  other  articles,  the  Sieur 
de  Tonty  and  the  rest  of  the  party  set  off  by  land  for  the 
nearest  Pottawatomie  village,  which  lay  some  twenty  leagues 
to  the  north.  But  as  Tonty  had  a  fever  at  the  time,  and  his 
limbs  were  swollen,  he  did  not  reach  the  village  until  the 
llth  of  November.  During  this  hard  journey  the  travelers 
lived  on  wild  garlic,  which  they  grubbed  from  under  the 
snow,  and  when  they  came  to  the  village  they  found  it  de- 
serted, for  the  Indians  had  gone  to  their  winter  quarters. 
They,  however,  discovered  a  little  maize  and  some  frozen 
gourds,  with  which  to  appease  their  hunger. 

Returning  to  the  lake  shore,  the  Frenchmen  re-em- 
barked and  continued  their  voyage.  Being  again  obliged 
to  land,  they  found  a  fresh  trail,  and,  following  it,  made  a 
portage  of  a  league  across  the  peninsula  to  Green  Bay. 
Entering  an  estuary  of  |the  bay,  called  Sturgeon  Cove,  they 
appear  to  have  ascended  it  several  leagues,  when  they  were 
stopped  by  a  high  wind,  which  continued  for  a  week.  Dur- 
ing this  time  they  consumed  all  their  little  stock  of  provis- 
ions, and  were  in  despair  of  being  able  to  overtake  the 
savages.  Their  shoes  having  worn  out,  they  now  made 
coverings  for  their  feet  of  the  late  Father  Gabriel's  cloak. 
The  stream  had  meantime  frozen  up,  so  that  they  could  not 
proceed  farther  in  their  canoe.  When  they  were  preparing 
to  set  out  on  foot,  two  Ottawa  Indians  chanced  to  arrive  at 
their  camp,  and  conducted  them  to  a  village  of  the  Potta- 
watomies. Here  the  famished  travelers  met  a  kind  recep- 
tion, and  had  their  wants  liberally  supplied. 

*  Called  by  the  Indians  the  Checagou. 


Tonty's  Flight  to  Green  Bay.  129 

According  to  the  narrative  of  Father  Membre,  Onang- 
hisse,  the  head  chief  of  the  Pottawatomies,  was  a  great  ad- 
mirer of  the  French,  whom  he  had  before  befriended.  And 
he  was  accustomed  to  say  that  "he  knew  of  only  three  great 
captains,  Frontenac,  La  Salle,  and  himself."* 

After  recruiting  somewhat  from  the  extreme  hardships 
of  the  journey,  Father  Membre  went  to  spend  the  winter 
at  the  mission-house  of  the  Jesuits  on  Green  Bay,  while 
Tonty  and  the  other  four  members  of  the  party  remained 
with  the  Pottawatomies.  In  the  following  spring,  they  all 
proceeded  to  old  Mackinac,  and  there  awaited  the  arrival  of 
their  leader. 


*  Both  Tonty  and  Membre  have  left  accounts  of  this  journey  of  re- 
treat from  the  Illinois  to  the  Pottawatomies,  but,  for  the  most  part,  we 
have  followed  the  relation  of  the  former. 


130  La  Salle's  Exploits  Continued. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

1681-1683. 
LA  SALLE'S  EXPLOITS  CONTINUED. 

Reverting  to  La  Salle,  who  was  left  at  Fort  Miami  to 
recruit  his  powers  and  resources,  we  again  resume  the  ac- 
count of  his  stirring  career.  During  the  winter  of  1680- 
81,  while  his  fortunes  seemed  at  the  lowest  ebb,  he  was 
never  more  active,  or  more  determined  upon  achieving 
ultimate  success.  Believing  that  the  then  recent  foray 
of  the  Iroquois  into  the  country  of  the  Illinois,  was 
mainly  for  the  purpose  of  extending  their  territorial  pos- 
sessions, whence  to  draw  fresh  supplies  of  furs,  and  that 
those  fierce  warriors  were  also  being  used  by  his  white  ad- 
versaries to  put  an  end  to  his  own  operations  in  this  wide 
and  attractive  region,  he  evolved  from  his  busy  brain  a 
plan  to  counteract  their  designs.  His  scheme  was  to  unite 
all  the  different  and  often  warring  tribes  of  the  West  into 
a  defensive  league ;  to  colonize  such  of  them  as  would  con- 
sent about  a  fort  to  be  erected  and  maintained  by  him  on 
the  Illinois  River,  and  thus  oppose  an  effectual  barrier  to 
the  further  incursions  of  the  Iroquois  and  their  adherents. 
This  extensive  plan  exemplifies  La  Salle's  fertility  of  re- 
source in  emergency,  and  its  success  in  execution  was  an- 
swerable to  his  expectations. 

After  the  close  of  the  bloody  and  desolating  war  of 
Philip,  of  Pokanoket,  with  the  New  England  colonists,  in 
1676,  some  of  his  vanquished  allies  quitted  their  eastern 
homes,  and  sought  a  refuge  in  the  forests  on  the  south- 
eastern borders  of  Lake  Michigan.  These  were  mostly 
Abenakis  and  Mohegans,  or  Mohicans — the  latter  tribe 
having  furnished  the  reliable  hunter  and  servant,  who  had 
already  rendered  such  useful  service  to  La  Salle.  It  was  to 
these  small  bands  of  Eastern  exiles  that  our  explorer  first 


Confers  with  the  Foxes  and  the  Illinois.  131 

addressed  himself  in  the  trial  of  his  new  expedient  for  the 
furtherance  of  his  general  plans.  He  found  them  very 
willing  to  join  their  lot  with  his  in  any  undertaking  he 
might  propose,  asking  only  the  privilege  of  calling  him 
their  chief.  His  next  move  was  to  effect  a  reconciliation 
between  the  Miamis  and  Illinois,  who,  though  kindred 
tribes,  had  been  long  estranged.  Desiring  to  first  confer 
with  the  Illinois,  many  of  whom  had  returned  since  the 
evacuation  of  their  country  by  the  Iroquois,  La  Salle  set 
out  with  a  party  from  Fort  Miami  on  a  journey  thither. 
On  entering  the  prairies,  which  were  still  white  with 
snow,  he  and  several  of  the  men  became  snow-blind,  so  that 
they  were  obliged  to  go  into  camp  on  the  edge  of  a  grove 
until  they  could  recover  their  sight.  Resuming  his  journey, 
he  met  with  a  band  of  the  Outagamies  (Foxes),  whose  chiefs 
he  drew  over  to  his  interest  by  means  of  presents.  From 
them  it  was  learned  that  Tonty  and  his  party  were  safe 
among  the  Pottawatomies,  and  that  Hennepin  had  passed 
through  their  country  (Wisconsin)  on  his  way  to  Canada. 
This  was  welcome  intelligence  to  La  Salle,  who,  for  several 
months,  had  been  very  anxious  about  their  safety.  Fol- 
lowing down  the  Kankakee  River,  he  fell  in  with  a  party 
of  the  Illinois,  who  were  stalking  the  prairies  in  quest  of 
game,  and  who  related  to  him  the  unhappy  occurrences  of 
the  preceding  year.  La  Salle  expressed  his  regret  at  what 
had  happened,  and  advised  them  to  form  an  alliance  with 
the  Miamis,  in  order  to  prevent  the  recurrence  of  like  dis- 
asters in  the  future.  He  told  them  that  he  and  his  men 
would  come  back  to  reside  among  them,  furnish  them  with 
fire-arms  and  goods,  and  help  them  in  repelling  the  hostile 
incursions  of  the  Iroquois.  Well  pleased  with  this  propo- 
sition, they  gave  him  some  maize,  and  promised  to  confer 
with  other  members  of  their  tribe  and  report  to  him  the  re- 
sult. 

Returning  now  to  Fort  Miami,  La  Salle  sent  La  For- 
rest down  Lake  Michigan  to  Mackinac,  whither  it  was  ex- 
pected that  Tonty  would  go,  and  where  both  were  to  stay 
until  he  should  follow  them.  It  still  remained  for  him  to 
confer  with  the  Miamis,  and  he  accordingly  started  with 


132  La  Salle' s  Exploits  Continued. 

ten  men  to  visit  their  principal  village,  situated  near  the 
portage  between  the  St.  Joseph  and  Kankakee.  Here  he 
found  a  small  party  of  Iroquois  warriors,  who  had  for  some 
time  demeaned  themselves  with  great  insolence  toward  the 
villagers,  and  had  spoken  with  contempt  of  himself  and  men. 
On  being  informed  of  this,  he  sternly  rebuked  them  for 
their  arrogance  and  calumnies,  and  such  was  the  fear  his 
presence  inspired  among  them  that  at  night  they  fled  from 
the  village. 

"  The  next  day  the  Miamis  were  gathered  in  council, 
and  La  Salle  made  known  to  them  the  objects  he  wished  to 
accomplish.  From  long  intercourse  with  the  Indians,  he 
had  become  an  expert  in  forest  diplomacy  and  eloquence, 
and  on  this  occasion  he  had  come  well  provided  with  presents 
to  give  efficacy  to  his  proceedings.  He  began  his  address, 
which  consisted  of  metaphorical  allusions  to  the  dead,  by 
distributing  gifts  among  the  living.  Presenting  them  with 
cloth,  he  told  them  it  was  to  cover  their  dead ;  giving  them 
hatchets,  he  informed  them  that  they  were  to  build  a  scaf- 
fold in  their  honor ;  distributing  among  them  beads  and 
bells,  he  stated  they  were  to  decorate  their  persons.  The 
living,  while  appropriating  these  presents,  were  greatly 
pleased  at  the  compliments  paid  to  their  departed  friends, 
and  thus  placed  in  a  suitable  state  of  mind  for  that  which 
was  to  follow.  .  .  .  Lastly,  to  convince  them  of  the 
sincerity  of  his  intentions,  he  gave  them  six  guns,  a  num- 
ber of  hatchets,  and  (then)  threw  into  their  midst  a  huge 
pile  of  clothing,  causing  the  entire  assemblage  to  explode 
with  yelps  of  extravagant  delight.  After  this,  La  Salle  thus 
closed  his  harangue : 

" '  He  who  is  my  master,  and  the  master  of  all  this 
country,  is  a  mighty  chief,  feared  by  the  whole  world ;  but 
he  loves  peace,  and  his  words  are  for  good  alone.  He  is 
called  the  King  of  France,  and  is  the  mightiest  among  the 
chiefs  beyond  the  great  water.  His  goodness  reaches  even 
to  your  dead,  and  his  subjects  come  among  you  to  raise 
them  up  to  life.  But  it  is  his  will  to  preserve  the  life  he  has 
given.  It  is  his  will  that  you  should  obey  his  laws,  and 
make  no  war  without  the  leave  of  Frontenac,  who  com- 


He,  Negotiates  with  the  Miamis.  133 

mands  in  his  name  at  Quebec,  and  who  loves  all  the  nations 
alike,  because  such  is  the  will  of  the  great  king.  You 
ought,  then,  to  live  at  peace  with  your  neighbors,  and  above 
all  with  the  Illinois.  You  have  had  cause  of  quarrel  with 
them;  but  their  defeat  has  avenged  you.  Though  they  are 
still  strong,  they  wish  to  make  peace  with  you.  Be  con- 
tent with  the  glory  of  having  compelled  them  to  ask  for  it. 
You  have  an  interest  in  preserving  them,  since,  if  the  Iro- 
quois  destroy  them,  they  will  next  destroy  you.  Let  us  all 
obey  the  great  king,  and  live  in  peace  under  his  protection. 
Be  of  my  mind,  and  use  these  guns  I  have  given  you, 'not 
to  make  war,  but  only  to  hunt  and  to  defend  yourselves.'"  * 

Having  ended  his  mission  to  the  Miamis  nation,  La 
Salle  sent  two  of  his  men,  with  two  of  the  Abenakis,  to 
announce  the  result  to  the  Illinois,  in  order  to  prevent 
further  acts  of  hostility,  and  to  recall  the  dispersed  tribes. 
Moreover,  he  dispatched  men  with  presents  to  the  Shaw- 
nees,  to  invite  them  to  come  and  join  the  Illinois  against 
the  Iroquois.  All  this  being  done  to  his  satisfaction,  he  left 
Fort  Miami  on  the  22d  of  May,  1681,  and,  after  a  pleasant 
canoe  voyage,  arrived  at  the  post  of  Mackinac  about  the 
middle  of  June.  Here  he  had  the  happiness  of  meeting 
Tonty,  Father  Zeriobe,  and  others  of  his  men,  from  whom 
he  had  been  separated  for  more  than  a  year.  "  The  Sieur 
de  la  Salle  (says  Membre's  Narrative,  before  cited,)  re- 
lated to  us  all  his  hardships  and  voyages,  as  well  as  his 
misfortunes,  and  learned  from  us  as  many  regarding  him; 
yet  never  did  I  remark  in  him  the  least  alteration,  always 
maintaining  his  ordinary  coolness  and  self-possession.  Any 
one  but  he  would  have  renounced  and  abandoned  the  enter- 
prise ;  but,  far  from  that,  by  a  firmness  of  mind  and  an 
almost  unequaled  constancy,  I  saw  him  more  resolute  than 
ever  to  continue  his  work,  and  to  carry  out  his  discovery." 

Before  La  Salle  could  resume  and  push  forward  his 
great  enterprise  to  a  successful  issue,  it  was  necessary  for 
him  to  return  to  Canada,  collect  his  scattered  resources,  and 


*  Davidson  &  Stuve's  Hist,  of  111.,  let  ed.,  p.  93.    See  Relations  des 
Decouverles,  compiled  for  the  government  from  La  Salle's  letters. 


134  La  Salic  and  his  Exploits  Continued. 

make  terms  with  his  creditors.  The  whole  party,  there- 
fore, embarked  for  Fort  Frontenac.  The  long  and  watery 
way  was  measured  without  any  noteworthy  incident,  and 
by  the  end  of  July  our  untiring  chief  had  reached  Mon- 
treal, and  was  consulting  with  the  capitalists  and  merchants 
who  had  been  furnishing  him  with  money  and  goods.  His 
seigniory  of  Frontenac  was  already  mortgaged  for  a  large 
sum,  much  of  which  had  been  expended  in  profitless  ex- 
plorations ;  yet  by  surrendering  some  o,f  his  monopolies,  by 
the  aid  of  a  rich  relative  named  Plet,*  and  by  the  con- 
tinued favor  and  support  of  Governor  Frontenac,  he  found 
means  to  appease  his  more  pressing  creditors,  and  obtained 
advances  for  another  respectable  outfit. 

The  season  was  well  advanced  before  La  Salle  could 
complete  his  preparations,  and  again  begin  to  move  through 
the  great  lakes.  He  started  upon  this  third  and  crowning 

*  In  order  to  secure  this  relative  from  loss  in  case  of  his  deatb,  La 
Salle  executed  an  instrument  in  the  nature  of  a  will,  of  which  the  fol- 
lowing is  a  copy : 

[Will  of  La  Salle.] 

"  Robert  Cavelier,  Esq.,  Sieur  de  la  Salle,  seignior  and  governor  of 
Fort  Frontenac,  in  New  France,  considering  the  great  dangers  and  con- 
tinual perils  in  which  the  voyages  I  undertake  engage  me,  and  wishing 
to  acknowledge  as  much  as  I  am  able,  the  great  obligations  which  I  owe 
to  M.  Francois  Plet,  my  cousin,  for  the  signal  services  which  he  has  ren- 
dered me  in  my  most  pressing  necessities,  and  because  it  is  through  his 
assistance  that  I  have  preserved  to  this  time  Fort  Frontenac  against  the 
efforts  which  were  made  to  deprive  me  of  it,  I  have  given,  granted,  and 
transferred,  and  give,  grant,  and  transfer,  by  these  presents,  to  the  said 
M.  Plet,  in  case  of  my  death,  the  seigniory  and  property  of  the  ground 
and  limits  of  the  said  Fort  Frontenac  and  its  depending  lands,  and  all 
my  rights  in  the  country  of  the  Miamis,  Illinois,  and  others  to  the  south, 
together  with  the  establishment  which  is  in  the  country  of  the  Miamis, 
in  the  condition  which  it  shall  be  at  the  time  of  my  death ;  that  of 
Niagara  and  all  the  others  which  I  may  have  founded  there,  together 
with  all  the  barges,  boats,  great  boats,  movables  and  immovables, 
rights,  privileges,  rents,  lands,  buildings,  and  other  things  belonging  to 
me,  which  shall  be  found  there ;  willing  that  these  presents  be  and  serve 
for  my  testament  and  declaration  in  the  manner  in  which  I  ought  to 
make  it,  such  being  my  last  will  as  above  written  by  my  hand,  and 
signed  by  my  hand,  after  having  read  it  and  again  read  it  (lu  el  relu). 

"  Made  at  Montreal  the  llth  of  August,  1681, 

[Signed.]  "  CAVBLIER  DE  LA  SALLE." 


His  Third  Expedition  to  the  West.  135 

expedition  with  a  company  of  thirty  men  (some  of  whom, 
however,  quit  his  service  before  reaching  Mackinac),  and 
ten  or  twelve  heavily-laden  canoes.  Passing  up  Ontario 
Lake  to  the  vicinity  of  the  present  Toronto,  he  thence  made 
a  long  portage  to  Lake  Simcoe.  It  was  October  when 
he  entered  the  Georgian  Bay  of  Lake  Huron,  and  it  was 
not  until  the  close  of  that  month  that  his  little  flotilla 
was  pushed  out  upon  the  northern  waters  of  Lake  Michigan. 
As  the  voyagers  crept  slowly  along  the  dreary  eastern  shore 
of  the  lake,  skirted  by  high  and,  for  the  most  part,  barren 
sand-hill's,  we  may  conjecture  some  of  the  melancholy 
thoughts  of  their  chief:  "A  past  of  unrequited  toil  and  sad 
disappointment,  a  present  embittered  by  the  tongue  of 
slander  and  hate,  and  the  future  clouded  with  uncertainty, 
must  have  intruded  themselves  into  his  mind,  but  could  not 
for  a  moment  divert  him  from  the  great  purpose  which,  for 
years,  had  been  the  guiding  star  of  his  destiny."  After  a 
monotonous  and  toilsome  trip,  the  leader  and  his  men 
reached  the  well-known  mouth  of  the  Miami  in  the  latter 
part  of  November,  and  drew  their  canoes  ashore  under  the 
shelter  of  the  palisaded  fort. 

Here  La  Salle  found  his  poor  Mohegan  and  Abenaki 
allies,  in  their  squalid  wigwams,  patiently  waiting  his  re- 
turn, and  from  among  them  he  chose  eighteen  men  to  ac- 
company him  on  his  southern  exploration.  These,  being 
added  to  his  twenty-three  French  and  Canadians,  made  a 
force  of  forty-one  men.  The  Indians  insisted  upon  taking 
with  them  ten  of  their  squaws  to  cook  for  them,  and  three 
children,  thus  making  a  total  of  fifty-four  persons.  Some 
of  these  supernumeraries  were  useless  and  others  a  burden ; 
but  there  seemed  no  help  for  it,  and  they  all  went.  Aban- 
doning the  old  route  via  the  St.  Joseph  and  Kankakee  for 
one  more  direct,  the  advance  party  of  the  expedition,  under 
the  conduct  of  the  faithful  Tonty  and  Membre,  set  out  from 
Fort  Miami  on  the  21st  of  December,  in  six  canoes,  and 
coasted  around  the  southern  bend  of  the  lake  to  the  mouth 
of  the  little  river  Chicago.  La  Salle  himself  followed 
a  few  days  later,  with  the  rest  of  his  men  (the  Indian 
contingent  going  by  land),  and  rejoined  the  others  on 


136  La  Salle's  Exploits  Continued. 

the  4th  of  January,  1682.  It  was  now  the  middle  of  winter 
in  this  latitude ;  the  earth  was  thickly  carpeted  with  snow, 
and  the  streams  were  all  bridged  over  with  ice.  Tonty  had 
caused  sledges  to  be  constructed,  on  which  the  explorers 
conveyed  their  canoes,  baggage,  and  provisions  up  the  con- 
gealed surface  of  the  Chicago,  and  thence  over  the  portage 
to  the  Des  Plaines,  or  northern  fork  of  the  Illinois,  which 
was  also  found  sheeted  with  ice.  Filing  down  its  smooth 
surface,  in  long  and  picturesque  procession,  to  the  head  of 
I  the  Illinois  proper,  and  thence  down  that  river,  they  passed 
on  their  wintry  way  the  great  town  of  the  Illinois,  now 
partly  rebuilt,  but  temporarily  deserted  of  its  inhabitants, 
and  at  length  came  to  open  water  at  the  foot  of  Peoria 
Lake.  Here  were  found  encamped  and  spending  the  win- 
ter a  large  number  of  Indians  belonging  to  the  great  town 
above.  Having  relinquished  for  the  time  his  project  of 
building  a  sailing  vessel  for  navigating  the  Lower  Missis- 
sippi, La  Salle  made  no  attempt  to  complete  the  one  previ- 
ously begun  at  Fort  Creve-cceur ;  *  but,  after  obtaining  a 
supply  of  maize  from  the  natives,  and  leaving  some  orders 
with  them,  he  and  his  Frenchmen  resumed  their  canoes 
and  held  on  their  course  to  the  mouth  of  the  river. 

Arrived  thither  the  6th  of  February,  they  were  obliged 
to  wait  on  account  of  the  floating  ice  in  the  Mississippi, 
and  also  for  their  Eastern  Indians,  who  had  fallen  behind. 
By  the  13th,  however,  these  laggards  had  all  arrived ;  the 
navigation  was  open,  and  the  adventurous  leader  launched 
his  small  flotilla  on  the  current  of  the  majestic  river  which 
was  to  bear  him  southward  to  the  sea.  The  voyagers  trav- 
eled rather  tardily,  since  they  carried  no  provisions  except 
Indian  corn,  and  were  compelled  to  hunt  and  fish  almost 
daily. 

About  seven  leagues  below  the  mouth  of  the  Illinois 
they  found  the  Missouri  River  (called  the  Osage  by  Father 
Membre)  putting  in  from  the  west,  and  pouring  its  yellow 
and  turbulent  flood  into  the  clearer  and  more  placid  waters 


*On  their  return  voyage  the  next  summer  (3682),  the  French  ex- 
plorers are  said  to  have  found  this  unfinished  bark  burnt. 


He  Descends  the  Mississippi.  137 

of  the  Mississippi.  On  the  14th,  they  passed,  on  their  left, 
the  village  of  the  Tamaroas,  containing  one  hundred  cabins. 
The  Indians  were  away  on  the  chase,  but  the  voyagers  left 
there  some  marks  to  indicate  their  presence  and  the  course 
they  had  taken.  After  several  more  days  of  rowing  and 
sailing  down  the  impetuous  river  they  reached  the  conflu- 
ence of  the  Ouabache  (Ohio),  where  they  stopped  a  short 
time  to  replenish  their  stock  of  provisions.  Re-entering 
their  canoes,  they  advanced  about  sixty  leagues  without 
stopping  to  encamp,  because  the  banks  on  both  sides  were 
low  and  swampy  and  full  of  rushes  and  underbrush. 

On  the  24th  of  February,  the  commander  landed  at  the 
Third  Chickasaw  Bluffs,  not  far  above  the  future  site  of 
Memphis,  and  the  hunters  were  immediately  sent  out  to  scour 
the  woods  for  game.  All  of  them  returned  in  good  time 
except  one  Pierre  Prudhomme.  Fearing  that  he  had  been 
seized  by  some  prowling  band  of  the  Chickasaws,  who  fre- 
quented that  region,  La  Salle  put  several  Frenchmen  and 
Indians  on  his  trail,  and,  in  the  meantime,  threw  up  an  in- 
trenchmeiit  and  stockade.  After  nine  days  of  active  search 
Prudhomme,  who  had  lost  his  way  in  the  forest,  was  found 
and  brought  into  camp  in  a  famished  condition.  To  con- 
sole the  unfortunate  hunter,  La  Salle  named  the  newly  built 
fort  for  him,  and  left  him  with  a  few  others  in  charge  of  it. 

Again  the  explorers  embarked;  and  with  every  day  of 
their  adventurous  progress,  the  mystery  of  this  unknown 
region  was  more  and  more  unveiled.  The  hazy  sunlight, 
the  mild  and  balmy  air,  the  tender  foliage,  the  opening 
flowers,  the  cheery  notes  of  the  birds,  all  betokened  the 
revival  of  Nature,  and  that  they  had  entered  the  realms  of 
spring.* 

On  the  12th  of  March,  having  advanced  some  forty 
leagues,  and  passed  the  village  of  the  Mitchigameas,  they 
were  astonished  to  hear  on  their  right  the  beating  of  In- 
dian drums  and  war  cries,  emanating  from  a  war-dance  at 
a  village  of  the  Akansas  (Arkansas).  Apprehending  an 
attack,  La  Salle,  under  cover  of  a  fog,  immediately  with- 


Parkman's  Discovery  of  the  Great  West. 


138  La  Salle' s  Exploits  Continued. 

drew  his  flotilla  to  the  opposite  shore,  and  there,  on  a  pro- 
jecting point  or  cape,  threw  up  an  intrenchment  and  felled 
trees  to  prevent  a  surprise.  He  then  directed  some  of  his 
men  to  go  along  the  bank  of  the  river,  and  by  signs,  invite 
the  Indians  to  come  over  to  them.  This  being  observed 
by  some  chiefs  of  the  Akansas,  they  sent  several  of  their 
young  men  in  a  pirogue,  which  approached  within  gunshot 
of  the  French  camp.  Here  the  calumet  of  peace  was  dis- 
played, and  two  of  the  savages,  standing  up  in  their  canoe, 
made  signs  for  the  Frenchmen  to  come  to  them.  At  this 
invitation  La  Salle  sent  one  of  his  Canadians  and  six  Aben- 
akis,  who  were  received  with  manifestations  of  friendship, 
and  were  escorted  back  by  six  of  the  Akansas.  La  Salle 
thereupon  made  presents  to  them  of  tobacco  and  some 
goods,  and  they,  in  turn,  invited  him  to  visit  their  village. 
Being  thus  assured,  he  crossed  the  river  with  his  entire 
force  to  the  village  called  Kappa,  where  he  stayed  three 
days,  and  was  feasted  throughout  with  corn,  beans,  dried 
fruit,  and  fish.  On  the  day  after  his  arrival  La  Salle  took 
formal  possession  of  the  country  by  planting  a  cross  and 
setting  up  the  arms  of  France ;  whereat  the  villagers,  not 
knowing  the  purport  of  the  ceremony,  showed  signs  of 
great  joy.  The  explorers  were  surprised  to  find  here  many 
domestic  fowls,  and  some  tamed  bustards,  which  were  prob- 
ably kept  for  ornamental  purposes.  They  took  their  de- 
parture on  the  17th,  and  six  leagues  farther  down  the  river, 
came  to  another  village  of  the  same  nation,  called  Toninga, 
and  three  leagues  beyond  that  still  another,*  the  inhabitants 
of  which  all  received  them  hospitably.  These  Arkansas 
Indians  called  themselves  Oguappas^  or  Quappas,  and  are 
said  to  have  formerly  dwelt  higher  up  the  Mississippi.  It 
was  observed  that  they  were  much  less  morose  and  severe 
in  their  manners,  and  more  open-hearted  and  generous 
than  the  tribes  of  the  north,  which  was  doubtless  partly 
owing  to  climatic  influences. 

Having  been  furnished  with  the  requisite  guides,  the 


*  Joutel,  who  visited  the  Arkansas  five  years  later,  makes  mention 
of  only  two  villages  on  the  Mississippi;  but  there  was  a  third  on  the 
Arkansas,  just  above  its  mouth. 


He  Descends  the  Mississippi.  139 

explorers  thence  continued  their  voyage,  and  on  the  22d, 
after  passing  the  hilly  site  of  Vicksburg,  reached  the  terri- 
tory of  a  tribe  called  the  Taensas,  who  dwelt  around 
a  little  lake  or  bayou,  formed  by  the  Mississippi.  Being 
fatigued,  La  Salle  sent  Tonty  and  Membre  thither  with 
presents.  Arrived  at  the  main  village  of  the  Taensas,  they 
were  agreeably  surprised  at  the  evidences  presented  of  In- 
dian civilization.  The  houses  were  built  of  earth  mixed 
with  straw,  and  roofed  with  cane  mats  in  the  form  of  a 
dome,  and  were  arranged  around  a  square  or  quad- 
rangle. The  house  of  the  head  chief  was  a  single  room 
forty  feet  square,  and  fifteen  feet  high  to  the  top  of  the 
roof.  It  was  entered  and  lighted  by  one  large  door,  in 
which  the  chief  sat  in  state,  waiting  the  approach  of  his 
visitors.  Around  him  were  grouped  some  sixty  old  men, 
dressed  in  white  robes  made  of  the  under  bark  of  the  mul- 
berry tree,  and  near  him  sat  three  of  his  wives  clothed  in 
like  manner,  who,  to  do  him  honor  when  he  spoke  to  them, 
indulged  in  guttural  cries.  After  paying  their  respects  to 
these  dignitaries,  the  Frenchmen  were  conducted  to  the 
temple  near  by,  which  was  oval-shaped  and  somewhat 
larger  than  the  royal  residence.  Within  it  were  deposited 
the  bones  of  defunct  chiefs,  and  in  the  middle  stood  an 
altar,  at  the  foot  of  which  a  fire  was  kept  burning  day  and 
night  by  two  old  pretres,  or  priests,  who  were  the  directors 
of  their  worship.  The  top  of  the  temple  was  surmounted 
by  three  roughly  carved  eagles,  facing  toward  the  rising 
sun ;  and,  surrounding  it,  was  a  mud  or  adobe  wall  studded 
with  sharp  pointed  stakes,  on  which  were  hung  the  skulls 
of  their  enemies  who  had  been  sacrificed  to  the  sun.  The 
district  around  the  village  was  planted  with  different  kinds 
of  fruit  and  nut  bearing  trees  and  wild  vines,  which  fur- 
nished a  considerable  part  of  the  subsistence  of  the  people. 
The  chief  of  the  Taensas  sent  provisions  to  La  Salle,  and 
the  next  day  paid  him  a  formal  visit  at  his  camp.  He  -came 
with  wooden  canoes,  attended  by  the  officers  of  his  house- 
hold, to  the  sound  of  the  tambour  and  the  wild  music 
of  the  women.  The  chief  was  clothed  in  a  fine  white 
blanket,  and  was  preceded  by  two  attendants  carrying  fans 


140  La  Salle's  Exploits  Continued. 

of  white  feathers.  La  Salle  received  him  with  great  polite- 
ness, made  him  a  few  presents,  and  received  in  return  pro- 
visions, and  some  of  their  robes  or  blankets.  During  this 
interview  the  Indian  potentate  maintained  a  grave  de- 
meanor, not  unmixed  with  curiosity  and  marks  of  friend- 
ship toward  the  Frenchmen. 

Re-embarking  on  the  strange  river,  and  having  ad- 
vanced twelve  leagues  farther,  the  explorers  (on  the  26th) 
fell  in  with  some  fishermen  of  the  Natchies  (Natchez)  na- 
tion, who  were  enemies  of  the  Taensas,  though  a  kindred 
people.  With  his  usual  precaution,  La  Salle  passed  over  to 
the  opposite  bank,  and  then  sent  Tonty  to  them  with  the 
peace  calumet.  The  Indians  were  found  well  disposed,  and 
some  of  them  crossed  the  river  with  Tonty  to  the  French 
camp.  Although  their  village  lay  some  three  leagues  in- 
land, La  Salle  did  not  hesitate  to  go  thither,  with  Membre 
and  a  part  of  his  men ;  and  on  their  arrival,  they  met 
a  kindly  welcome.  The  chief  of  this  village  was  a 
brother  of  the  great  chief  or  Sun  of  the  whole  nation, 
whose  village  lay  several  leagues  down  the  river,  and  about 
one  lea'gue  from  the  present  city  of  Natchez.  After  spend- 
ing the  night  at  the  first  village,  La  Salle  and  his  party 
proceeded  the  next  day  to  the  town  of  the  Sun-chief,  where 
they  were  handsomely  entertained,  and,  by  permission, 
erected  a  cross  bearing  the  king's  arms.  This  proceeding 
was  viewed  with  great  satisfaction  by  the  inhabitants,  but 
it  would  have  been  otherwise  if  they  had  understood  its 
real  significance.  As  with  the  Taensas,  so  here  among  the 
Natchez,  the  French  visitors  saw  substantially  built  houses, 
a  royal  residence,  a  rude  temple  of  the  sun,  with  its  altar  of 
perpetual  fire,  and  an  established  form  of  religious  worship. 
The  friar  Membre,  in  his  Narrative,  speaks  of  both  tribes 
as  being  half-civilized,  and  as  presenting  a  good  field  for 
missionary  effort. 

.On  the  way  back  to  their  camp,  La  Salle  and  party  were 
accompanied  by  several  of  the  head  men  of  the  Natchez, 
and  also  by  a  chief  of  the  Koroas,  or  Coroas.  This  chief 
now  conducted  the  explorers  to  his  village,  which  was  situ- 
ated ten  leagues  below  on  a  pleasant  eminence.  Arrived 


He  Reaches  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  141 

at  the  village,  the  usual  Indian  feast  was  made,  and  the 
customary  presents  were  given  and  received.  Here  the 
voyagers  were  told  that  they  still  had  ten  days'  sail  to  the 
sea.*  Leaving  the  Koroas  on  Easter  Sunday,  the  29th  of 
March,  they  passed  the  mouth  of  Red  River  two  days  after- 
ward, and  still  keeping  on  their  course  for  a  distance  of 
nearly  forty  leagues,  they  discovered  some  Indian  fisher- 
men on  the  bank  of  the  river,  and  immediately  heard  the 
beating  of  drums  and  war-cries.  Four  Frenchmen  were 
sent  forward  to  offer  them  the  calumet,  but  they  had  to  re- 
turn in  haste,  because  the  natives  let  fly  at  them  a  shower  of 
arrows.  These  Indians  belonged  to  the  Quinipissa  tribe, 
and  in  consequence  of  their  hostility  La  Salle  continued 
his  voyage  two  leagues  lower  down,  when  he  landed  at  a 
small  village  of  the  Tangibaos,  which  had  been  recently 
pillaged,  and  contained  dead  bodies. 

At  length,  on  the  6th  of  April,  after  nearly  two  months 
of  navigation,  the  explorers  arrived  at  a  point  where  the 
river  divides  itself  into  three  principal  channels  or  passes, 
which  -branch  oft'  to  the  Gulf.  They  landed  and  encamped 
on  the  bank  of  the  most  westerly.  The  next  day  (the  7th), 
La  Salle  divided  his  company  into  three  bands,  to  go  and 
explore  the  different  passes.  He  himself  took  the  south- 
western, Tonty  and  Membre  the  middle  one,  and  D'Autray  f 
the  eastern.  As, the  adventurous  leader  now  drifted  down 
the  narrow  channel,  between  low  alluvial  banks,  "the 
brackish  water  gradually  changed  to  brine,  and  the  breeze 
grew  fresh  with  the  salt  breath  of  the  sea."  Then,  lo  !  the 
broad,  heaving  bosom  of  the  great  Gulf  itself  opened  to 
his  enraptured  gaze,  with  its  light-green  waves  foaming 
and  breaking  upon  the  marshy  shore ;  "without  a  sail,  with- 
out a  sign  of  human  life." 

The  three  passes  or  outlets  of  the  river  were  found  to 
be  large  and  deep,  and  quite  salt  two  leagues  below  their 
head.  With  an  astrolabe,  which  La  Salle  always  carried 

*An  ordinary  day's  sail  with  the  Indians  was  from  ten  to  twelve 
leagues. 

tThe  Sieur  D'Autray  was  a  son  of  M.  Bourdon  d'Autray,  then  lately 
deceased,  but  formerly  procurator  general  of  Quebec. 


142  La  Salle' s  Exploits  Continued. 

with  him,  he  took  the  latitude  of  the  mouth,  and  ascertained 
it  to  be  about  28°  30'  north,  but  kept  this  to  himself.  .The 
Mississippi  was  roughly  estimated  by  the  explorers  at  eight 
hundred  leagues  in  length,  and  it  was  reckoned  that  they 
had  traveled  at  least  three  hundred  and  fifty  French  leagues 
from  the  confluence  of  the  Illinois,  which  was  considerably 
less  than  the  actual  distance  by  the  river.  After  coasting  the 
spongy  and  reed-fringed  beach  for  a  short  distance,  La  Salle 
retraced  his  course  to  his  camp  ;  and  on  the  8th  the  reunited 
party  mounted  to  a  spot  of  dry  ground  on  the  bank  of  the 
main  river.  Here,  on  the  9th  of  April,  with  all  possible 
solemnity , .they  performed  the  ceremony  of  taking  posses- 
sion of  the  country.  A  column  had  been  prepared,  to  which 
was  affixed  the  arms  of  France,  with  this  inscription : 
"Louis  Lc  Grand,  Roi  de  France  et  de  Navarre,  regne;  Le 
.Neuvieme  Avril,  1682." 

The  Frenchmen  were  all  mustered  under  arms,  and, 
while  the  New  England  Indians  of  the  party  looked  on  in 
wondering  silence,  the  former,  led  by  Father  Zenobe, 
chanted  the  Te  Deum,  the  Exaudiat,  and  other  hymns  in 
praise  to  God  for  their  great  discovery.  Then,  amid  dis- 
charges of  musketry  and  shouts  of  Vive  le  Roi,  the  column 
was  planted  by  the  Sieur  de  la  Salle,  who,  standing  near  it, 
recited,  in  a  loud  voice,  the  following  declaration,  which  had 
been  drawn  up  at  his  dictation  by  Jacques  de  la  Metairie,  a 
Canadian  notary,  who  accompanied  the  expedition  from 
Fort  Frontenac: 

"  In  the  name  of  the  most  high,  mighty,  invincible,  and 
victorious  Prince,  Louis,  the  Great  King  of  France  and 
Navarre,  Fourteenth  of  that  name,  this  ninth  day  of  April, 
1682,  I,  in  virtue  of  the  commission  of  his  Majesty,  which 
I  hold  in  my  hand,  and  which  may  be  seen  by  all  whom  it 
may  concern,  have  taken,  and  do  now  take,  in  the  name  of 
his  majesty,  and  of  his  successors  to  the  crown,  possession  of 
this  country  of  Louisiana,  the  seas,  harbors,  ports,  bays, 
adjacent  straits,  and  all  the  nations,  peoples,  provinces, 
towns,  villages,  mines,  minerals,  fisheries,  streams,  and 
rivers,  comprised  in  the  extent  of  said  Louisiana,  from  the 
mouth  of  the  great  river  St.  Louis,  on  the  eastern  side, 


Takes  Formal  Possession  of  the  Country.  143 

otherwise  called  Ohio,  Alighin,  or  Chukagona,  and  this  with 
the  consent  of  the  Chaouanons,  Chicachas,  and  other  people 
dwelling  therein,  with  whom  we  have  made  alliance ;  as  also 
along  the  river  Colbert,  or  Mississippi,  and  rivers  which  dis- 
charge themselves  therein,  from  its  source  beyond  the  coun- 
try of  the  Kious,  or  Nadouessious,  arid  this  with  their  con- 
sent, and  with  the  consent  of  the  Motantees,  Illinois,  Mesi- 
gameas,  batches,  Koroas,  which  are  the  most  considerable 
nations  dwelling  therein,  with  whom  also  we  have  made 
alliance,  either  by  ourselves  or  by  others  in  our  behalf;  *  as 
far  as  its  mouth  at  the  sea,  or  Gulf  of  Mexico,  about  the 
27th  degree  of  the  elevation  of  the  North  Pole,  and  also  to 
the  mouth  of  the  river  of  Palms ;  upon  the  assurance  we 
have  received  from  all  these  nations,  that  we  are  the  first 
Europeans  who  have  descended  or  ascended  the  said  river 
Colbert ;  hereby  protesting  against  all  those  who  may  in 
future  undertake  to  invade  any  or  all  of  these  countries, 
people,  or  lands  above  described,  to  the  prejudice  of  the 
right  of  his  majesty,  acquired  by  consent  of  the  nations 
herein  named.  Of  which,  and  of  all  that  can  be  needed,  I 
hereby  take  to  witness  those  who  hear  me,  and  demand  an 
act  of  the  notary,  as  required  by  law." 

"  To  which  the  whole  assembly  responded  with  shouts 
of  Vive  le  Roi,  and  with  salutes  of  fire-arms.  Moreover, 
the  Sieur  de  la  Salle  caused  to  be  buried  at  the  foot  of 
the  tree  to  which  the  cross  was  attached  a  leaden  plate,  on 
one  side  of  which  were  engraved  the  arms  of  France,  and, 
on  the  opposite,  the  following  Latin  inscription :  'Ludovicus 
Magnus  Regnat,  Nono  Aprilis,  -M.  D.  C.  LXXXI1.J  etc.  .  .  . 

"After  which  the  Sieur  de  la  Salle  said,  that  his  maj- 
esty, as  eldest  son  of  the  church,  would  annex  no  country 
to  his  crown  without  making  it  his  chief  care  to  establish 
the  Christian  religion  therein,  and  that  its  symbol  must  now 
be  planted ;  which  was  accordingly  done  at  once  by  erecting 


*  There  is  some  obscurity  in  this  enumeration  of  places  and  Indian 
nations,  arising  from  ignorance  of  the  geography  of  the  country,  and  the 
consent  of  the  aborigines  is,  of  course,  assumed  ;  but  it  appears  to  have 
,been  La  Salle's  design  to  take  possession  of  the  whole  territory  watered 
by  the  Mississippi  and  its  numerous  tributaries. 


144  La  Salle' s  Exploits  Continued. 

a  cross,  before  which  the  Vexilla  and  the  Domine  salvumfac 
Recjem  were  sung.  Whereupon  the  ceremony  was  concluded 
with  cries  of  Vive  le  Roi. 

"  Of  all  and  every  of  the  above,  the  said  Sieur  de  la 
Salle  having  required  of  us  an  instrument,  we  have  deliv- 
ered to  him  the  same,  signed  by  us,  and  by  the  undersigned 
witnesses,  this  ninth  day  of  April,  one  thousand  six  hun- 
dred and  eighty -two. 

"  LA  MBTAIRIE,  Notary. 

"  Witnesses :  De  la  Salle,  P.  Zenobe  (Recollect  Mission- 
ary), Henri  de  Tonty,  Francois  de  Boisrondet,  Jean  Bour- 
don, Sieur  d'Autray,  Jacques  Cauchois,  Pierre  You,  Grilles 
Meucret,  Jean  Michel  (Surgeon),  Jean  Mas,  Jean  Dulignou, 
Nicolas  de  la  Salle."* 

These  formal  acts,  attesting  La  Salle's  important  geo- 
graphical discovery,  gave  to  Louis  XIV.  a  territory  far 
more  extensive  than  his  hereditary  European  possessions, 
though  not  destined  in  the  sequence  of  events  to  become  a 
permanent  appendage  of  the  French  crown. 

Having  thus  achieved  the  great  object  of  the  expedi- 
tion, our  explorers  began  their  return  voyage  on  the  10th 
of  April.  As  they  laboriously  ascended  the  current  of  the 
deep  river,  they  were  half  famished,  having  nothing  to  eat 
but  some  potatoes  and  tough  alligator  meat.  The  adjacent 
banks  were  so  low,  and  covered  with  thickets  of  canes  and 
undergrowth,  that  they  could  not  stop  to  hunt  without 
making  a  long  halt.  On  the  night  of  the  12th,  they  slept  at 
the  village  of  the  Tangibaos,f  and  the  next  day  reached  the 
district  of  the  Quinipissas.  Determined  to  have  some  maize 
at  any  cost,  La  Salle  now  sent  out  a  party  of  his  Abenakie 
to  reconnoiter.  They  returned  on  the  morning  of  the  14th, 
bringing  with  them  four  of  the  Quinipissas  women  whom 
they  had  captured,  and  thereupon  La  Salle  went  and  en- 
camped opposite  their  village.  The  day  after  he  sent  one 


*See  Historical  Coil's  of  La.,  Part  I.,  pp.  48-50.  An  authenticated 
copy  of  these  proceedings  was  afterward  sent  to  Paris,  and  deposited  in 
the  Department  of  the  Marine  and  Colonies. 

t  Supposed  to  have  been  near  the  site  of  New  Orleans. 


His  Return  Voyaye.  145 

of  the  women  back  with  presents  of  merchandise  to  indi- 
cate his  good  will,  and  the  savages  brought  him  in  return 
a  little  corn.  Being  invited  to  cross  the  river  to  the  vi- 
cinity of  their  village,  the  Frenchmen  did  so,  but  kept 
strictly  on  their  guard.  Before  daybreak  the  next  morn- 
ing, they  were  attacked  in  their  camp  by  the  Quinipissas, 
whom  they  easily  repulsed,  killing  ten  and  wounding  others, 
besides  burning  their  canoes.  This  is  the  only  recorded  in- 
stance of  the  sacrifice  of  human  life  during  the  course  of 
the  expedition. 

Re-embarking  on  the  evening  of  that  day  (the  18th), 
La  Salle  and  his  followers  reached  the  village  of  the  Ko- 
roas,  about  the  first  of  May,  but  found  them  no  longer 
friendly  and  obliging  as  before.  Arrived  at  the  district  of 
the  Natchez,  they  landed  and  went  out  to  their  village,,  but, 
seeing  no  women  there,  suspected  some  evil  design.  The 
Natchez  gave  them  food  to  eat,  but  the  Frenchmen  ate  it 
with  their  guns  in  their  hands,  fearing  an  attack  from  the 
great  number  of  warriors  by  whom  they  were  surrounded. 
Returning  hastily  to  their  canoes,  they  held  on  their  way 
up  the  river,  stopping  at  the  Taensas  and  the  Arkansas, 
where  they  were  well  received. 

Leaving  the  Arkansas  villages  about  the  middle  of  May, 
La  Salle  pushed  ahead  with  two  canoes  of  his  Mohegans,  but 
falling  sick  on  the  river,  he  stopped  at  Fort  Prudhomme, 
and  was  there  joined  by  the  rest  of  his  company  on  the 
first  of  June.  His  sickness  being  protracted  and  danger- 
ous, the  Friar  Membre  remained  with  him  to  nurse  him. 
Meantime,  Tonty  was  sent  forward  with  a  few  compan- 
ions to  Mackinac,  to  arrange  his  affairs.  It  was  not  until 
the  first  of  July  that  La  Salle  recovered  sufiiciently  to 
travel.  He  then  resumed  his  voyage,  and  advanced  by 
short  stages  to  Fort  Miami,  and  thence  to  Mackinac, 
whither  he  arrived  early  in  September.* 

The  Sieur  de  la  Salle  had  at  length  triumphed  over 

*  For  fuller  details  cencerning  this  memorable  and  successful  expe- 
dition, see  the  Narratives  of  Membre  and  Tonty,  and  the  Proces  Verbal  of 
La  Metaire. 
10 


146  La  Salle's  Exploits  Continued. 

every  opposing  obstacle,  and  though  not  finding  the 
long-sought  passage  to  the  Pacific  Ocean,  he  had  followed 
the  Mississippi  River  to  its  entrance  into  the  Mexican  Gulf, 
and  written  his  name  high  in  the  list  of  American  dis- 
coverers. It  remained  for  him  to  extend  and  utilize  his 
discovery  to  the  best  advantage  for  himself  and  his 
sovereign.  As  the  country  of  the  Illinois  formed  the  center 
of  his  operations,  he  now  resolved  to  abandon  the  tedious 
and  difficult  line  of  access  to  it  through  Canada  and  the 
lakes,  beset  by  so  many  enemies,  and  to  open  a  passage  to 
his  western  domain  by  way  of  the  Gulf  and  Lower  Missis- 
sippi. He  proposed  to  build  a  fort  on  the  head  waters  of 
the  Illinois,  and  found  there  a  French  and  Indian  col- 
ony, which  might  serve  the  twofold  purpose  of  a  bulwark 
against  the  inroads  of  the  Iroquois,  and  a  central  point  for 
the  fur-trade  of  the  western  tribes.  And  he  hoped,  before 
the  close  of  the  ensuing  year,  to  establish  another  fort  and 
colony  at  the  embouchure  of  the  Mississippi,  thus  placing 
the  trade  of  the  whole  great  valley  under  his  control.  This 
new  enterprise  was  not  unworthy  of  the  genius  of  La  Salle. 
It  was  his  intention  on  his  arrival  at  Mackinac  to  have 
gone  at  once  to  Canada,  and  thence  to  France,  to  procure 
aid  from  the  king  in  the  execution  of  his  plan ;  but  his 
health  and  circumstances  not  permitting,  he  sent  Father 
Membre  with  dispatches,  making  known  the  extent  and 
importance  of  his  discovery. 

Soon  after  this  a  report  reached  La  Salle,  that  the 
Iroquois — those  fierce  Romans  of  the  wilderness — were 
about  to  renew  their  raid  upon  the  western  tribes.  As 
such  a  hostile  movement  might  be  fatal  to  his  projected 
colony,  he  deemed  it  the  part  of  prudence  to  follow  Tonty, 
whom  he  had  already  sent  to  the  Illinois,  and  joined  him 
at  the  great  Indian  town.  This  celebrated  village  stood 
on  the  northern  side  of  the  Illinois  River  (which  here  runs 
from  east  to  west),  about  one  mile  from  the  modern  town 
of  Utica,  in  what  is  now  La  Salle  county.*  It  thus  occu- 
pied a  part  of  the  wide  strip  of  bottom  land  lying  between 


*  So  named  in  memory  of  the  great  explorer. 


Fort  St.  Louis  of  the  Illinois.  147 

the  river  and  the  bluffs  to  the  north.  The  large  quantities 
of  human  bones  and  implements  of  savage  life  that  have 
been  turned  up  here,  from  time  to  time,  by  the  plough- 
share of  the  husbandman,  form  the  only  vestiges  of  the 
populous  tribes,  who  once  made  this  attractive  locality 
their  principal  abode.  Along  the  southern  border  of  the 
stream  extends  a  range  of  irregular  sandstone  bluffs,  which 
culminates  a  mile  above  the  old  village  in  a  natural  abut- 
ment, known  to  the  early  French  explorers  as  Le  Rocher, 
but,  at  a  later  period,  as  the  "Starved  Rock."  Several 
miles  below  this,  on  the  same  side,  occurs  a  canyon  in 
the  hills  and  bluffs,  through  which  the  waters  of  the 
Big  Vermilion,  or  Aramoni  of  the  French,  find  their  way 
to  those  of  the  Illinois.  Of  the  Starved  Rock  and  its  sur- 
roundings, Breese  thus  enthusiastically  writes  : 

"  It  is  a  most  romantic  spot.  I  have  stood  upon  the 
*  Starved  Rock '  and  gazed  for  hours  upon  the  beautiful 
landscape  spread  out  beneath  me.  The  undulating  plains 
rich  in  their  verdure,  the  rounded  hills  beyond  clad  in  their 
forest  livery,  and  the  gentle  river  pursuing  its  noiseless  way 
to  the  Mississippi  and  the  Gulf,  all  in  harmonious  associa- 
tion, make  up  a  picture  over  which  the  eye  delights  to 
wander;  and  when  to  these  are  added  the  recollection  of 
the  heroic  adventurers  who  first  occupied  it — that  here  the 
banner  of  France  so  many  years  floated  freely  in  the  winds, 
that  here  was  civilization,  whilst  all  around  them  was  bar- 
baric darkness — the  most  intense  and  varied  emotions  can 
not  fail  to  be  awakened."  * 

From  the  river  which  washes  its  base,  the  huge  cliff 
rises  perpendicularly  to  an  altitude  of  one  hundred  and 
twenty-six  feet;  and  only  on  one  side,  that  next  to  the 
land,  can  it  be  climbed  with  difficulty. 

To  the  summit  of  this  natural  citadel,  embracing  an 
area  of  half  an  acre,  La  Salle  and  Tonty  repaired  in  De- 
cember, 1682,  and  commenced  the  work  of  fortification. 
With  the  assistance  of  their  men,  they  felled  the  stunted 
growth  of  pines  and  deciduous  trees  that  crowned  the 


"  Early  History  of  Illinois,"  p.  121. 


148  La  Salle's  Exploits  Continued. 

Rock,  and  with  these  built  a  rude  storehouse.  Then  they 
cut  and  dragged  timbers,  with  great  labor,  up  the  rugged 
ascent  of  the  cliff,  and  inclosed  the  top  with  a  stout 
palisade.  The  fort  was  practically  finished  during  that 
winter,  and  was  named  by  La  Salle  Fort  de  St.  Louis,  in 
honor  to  the  reigning  monarch  of  France.  It  was  intended 
as  the  nucleus  of  a  permanent  settlement,  and  was  con- 
tinuously occupied  by  the  French  until  the  year  1700,  and 
occasionally  afterward.* 

With  the  completion  of  the  fortress  (in  the  spring  of 
1683)  the  Illinois  Indians  began  to  gather  about  it,  looking 
upon  La  Salle  as  the  great  chief  who  was  to  protect  them 
from  the  Iroquois ;  and  the  surrounding  country  soon  again 
became  animated  with  the  wild  concourse  of  savage  life. 
Besides  the  Illinois,  there  were  also  scattered  along  the 
river  valley,  and  among  the  neighboring  hills  and  prairies, 
the  fragments  of  at  least  half  a  dozen  other  tribes,  namely  : 
Miamis  from  the  sources  of  the  Kankakee,  Piankashaws 
and  Weas  from  the  Wabash,  Shawnees  from  the  Ohio 
valley,  and  some  Abenakuis  and  Mohicans  from  N"ew 
England.  La  Salle's  dexterous  diplomacy  had  thus  been 
crowned  with  unexpected  success,  a  result  largely  due  to 
the  general  terror  inspired  by  the  ferocious  Iroquois.  In  a 
memorial  addressed  to  the  French  Minister  of  Marine,  he 
reported  the  whole  number  of  warriors  around  Fort  St. 
Louis  at  four  thousand,  which  would  represent  a  popula- 
tion of  twenty  thousand  persons.  But  this  exaggerated 
number  could  only  have  been  possible  at  particular  seasons 
of  the  year,  since  those  nomadic  people  went  and  came 
according  as  the  fish,  game,  and  wild  fruits  were  more  or 
less  abundant. 

By  virtue  of  the  authority  conferred  in  his  patent,  La 
Salle  ruled  his  broad  domain  as  a  seigniory,  and  went 
through  the  form  of  parceling  out  portions  of  the  land  to 


*  The  outline  of  another  fort  or  earthwork,  which  might  have  been 
a  work  of  the  early  French,  is  yet  to  be  seen  on  the  rocky  bluff  about 
half  a  mile  south  of  Fort  St.  Louis,  near  the  edge  ^f  the  prairie.  See 
Baldwin's  Hist,  of  La  Salle  Co.,  111.,  p.  55. 


He  Corresponds  with  Governor  La  Barre.  149 

his  French  followers.  Tfie  latter,  however,  were  too  indo- 
lent and  profligate  to  improve  or  derive  any  benefit  from 
such  grants,  thinking  more  of  their  Indian  concubines  than 
of  cultivating  wild  lands.  To  maintain  his  new  colony,  the 
chief  found  it  necessary  to  furnish  its  members  with  mili- 
tary protection,  and  merchandise  to  barter  for  furs  and 
pelts — no  easy  task  in  his  situation.  "While  he  was  con- 
certing and  endeavoring  to  execute  measures  for  the  main- 
tenance and  development  of  his  colony,  his  rivals  and  ene- 
mies in  Canada,  from  envy  or  short-sighted  policy,  were 
doing  all  they  could  to  defeat  him.  Unfortunately,  his 
friend  and  patron,  Count  Frontenac,  had  been  removed 
from  office,  and  Le  Febvre  de  la  Barre,  a  headstrong  and 
avaricious  old  naval  officer,  governed  in  his  stead.  From 
the  outset  of  his  administration,  La  Barre  showed  himself 
a  bitter  enemy  to  La  Salle.  Yet  the  latter,  busy  with  his 
own  affairs,  and  not  knowing  or  assuming  to  know  the 
jealousy  with  which  he  was  regarded,  wrote  to  the  new 
governor  from  Fort  St.  Louis,  under  date  April  2,  1683, 
expressing  the  hope  that  he  would  have  from  him  the 
same  support  that  he  had  received  from  his  predecessor. 
After  saying  that  his  enemies  would  try  to  influence  the 
governor  against  him,  he  went  on  to  give  some  account  of 
his  explorations.  He  stated  that,  with  only  twenty-two 
Frenchmen,  he  had  formed  amicable  relations  with  the 
different  tribes  along  the  Mississippi  River,  and  that  his 
royal  patent  authorized  him  to  establish  posts  in  the  newly 
discovered  country,  and  to  make  grants  around  them,  as  at 
Fort  Frontenac,  and  then  added : 

"  The  losses  in  my  enterprise  have  exceeded  40,000 
crowns.  I  am  now  going  four  hundred  leagues  south-west 
of  this  place  to  induce  the  Chicasas  to  follow  the  Shaw- 
anoes  and  other  tribes,  and  settle  like  them  at  Fort  St. 
Louis.  It  remained  only  to  settle  French  colonists  here, 
and  this  I  have  already  done.  I  hope  you  will  not  detain 
them  as  coureurs  des  bois  when  they  come  down  to  Montreal 
to  make  necessary  purchases.  I  am  aware  that  I  have  no 
right  to  trade  with  the  tribes  who  descend  to  Montreal, 
and  I  shall  not  permit  such  trade  to  my  men ;  nor  have  I 


150  La  Salle's  Exploits  Continued. 

ever  issued  licenses  to  that  effect,  'as  my  enemies  say  that  I 
have  done." 

Despite  this  reasonable  request  on  the  part  of  La  Salle, 
the  men  whom  he  had  sent  to  Montreal  on  business  were 
detained  there,  and  on  the  4th  of  June  he  again  wrote  to 
Governor  La  Barre,  in  a  more  urgent  strain,  as  follows : 

"  The  Iroquois  are  again  invading  the  country.  Last 
year  the  Miarnis  were  so  alarmed  by  them  that  they  aban- 
doned their  town  and  fled,  but  on  my  return  they  came 
back,  and  have  been  induced  to  settle  with  the  Illinois  at 
my  fort  of  St.  Louis.  The  Iroquois  have  lately  murdered 
gome  families  of  their  nation,  and  they  are  all  in  terror 
again.  I  am  afraid  they  will  take  flight,  and  so  prevent  the 
Missouris  and  neighboring  tribes  from  coming  to  settle  at 
St.  Louis,  as  they  are  about  to  do.  Some  of  the  Hurons  and 
French  tell  the  Miamis  that  I  am  keeping  them  here  for  the 
Iroquois  to  destroy.  I  pray  that  you  will  let  me  hear  from 
you,  that  I  may  give  these  people  some  assurance  of  pro- 
tection before  they  are  destroyed  in  my  sight.  Do  not  suf- 
fer my  men,  who  have  come  down  to  the  settlements,  to  be 
longer  prevented  from  returning.  There  is  great  need 
here  of  reinforcements.  I  have  postponed  going  to  Mack- 
inac,  because,  if  the  Iroquois  strike  any  blow  in  my  absence, 
the  Miamis  will  think  I  am  in  league  with  them ;  wrhereas 
if  I  and  the  French  stay  among  them,  they  will  regard  us 
as  protectors. 

"  But,  monsieur,  it  is  in  vain  that  we  risk  our  lives 
here,  and  that  I  exhaust  my  means  in  order  to  fulfill  the  in- 
tention of  his  majesty,  if  all  my  measures  are  crossed  in  the 
settlements  below,  and  if  those  who  go  down  to  bring  mu- 
nitions, without  which  we  can  not  defend  ourselves,  are  de- 
tained under  pretexts  trumped  up  for  the  occasion.  If  I  am 
prevented  from  bringing  up  my  men  and  supplies,  as  I  am 
allowed  to  do  by  the  permit  of  Count  ff'rontenac,  then  my 
patent  from  the  king  is  useless.  It  would  be  very  hard  for 
us,  after  having  done  what  was  required,  even  before  the 
time  prescribed,  and  after  suffering  severe  losses,  to  have' 
our  efforts  frustrated  by  obstacles  got  up  designedly.  I 
trust  that,  as  it  lies  with  you  alone  to  prevent  or  permit 


Corresponds  with  Governor  La  Barre.  151 

the  return  of  the  men  whom  I  have  sent  down,  you  will  not 
so  act  as  to  thwart  my  plans,  as  part  of  the  goods  which  I 
have  sent  by  them  belongs  not  to  me,  but  the  Sieur  de 
Tonty,  and  are  a  part  of  his  pay.  Others  are  to  buy  muni- 
tions indispensable  to  our  defense.  Do  not  let  my  creditors 
seize  them.  It  is  for  their  advantage  that  my  fort,  full  as 
it  is  of  goods,  should  be  held  against  the  enemy.  I  have 
only  twenty  men,  with  scarcely  one  hundred  pounds  of 
powder.  I  can  not  long  hold  the  country  without  more. 
The  Illinois  are  very  capricious  and  uncertain.  ...  If 
I  had  men  enough  to  send  out  to  reconnoiter  the  enemy,  I 
would  have  done  so  before  this ;  but  I  have  not  enough.  I 
trust  that  you  will  put  it  in  my  power  to  obtain  more,  that 
this  important  colony  may  be  saved." 

(Dated  at)  "  Portage  de  Chicagou,  4  Juni,  1683."* 
It  was  in  vain,  however,  that  La  Salle  appealed  to  Gov- 
ernor La  Barre  for  favor  or  support  in  his  enterprise.  That 
functionary,  on  the  contrary,  was  meantime  writing  letters 
to  the  Minister  of  Marine  and  Colonies,  disparaging  La 
Salle's  discoveries,  and  pretending  to  doubt  their  reality ; 
saying,  that  "  with  a  score  of  vagabonds  he  had  pillaged  his 
countrymen  and  put  them  to  ransom,  and  was  about  to  set 
himself  up  as  king,  and  that  the  imprudence  of  the  man 
was  likely  to  involve  Canada  in  a  war  with  the  Iroquois." 
These  calumnies,  being  repeated,  at  length  reached  the  ear  of 
the  French  monarch,  who,  under  a  mistaken  notion  of  the 
true,  state  of  affairs,  wrote  La  Barre  to  this  effect:  "  I  am 
convinced  like  you,  that  the  discovery  of  the  Sieur  de  la 
Salle  is  very  useless,  and  that  such  enterprises  ought  to  be 
prevented  in  the  future,  as  they  tend  only  to  debauch  the 
inhabitants  by  the  hope  of  gain,  and  to  diminish  the  rev- 
enue from  beaver  skins."f 

Apparently  emboldened  by  the  king's  letter,  the  governor 
seized  upon  Fort  Frontenac,  under  pretext  that  La  Salle 
had  not  fulfilled  the  conditions  of  his  grant  by  maintaining 
there  a  sufficient  garrison;  and,  against  the  remonstrances 

*  Parkman's  La  Salle  and  the  Great  West,  pp.  299-301. 
t  Lettre  du  Roy  d  La  Barre,  bth  Aout,  1683,  in  Margry. 


152  La  Salle's  Exploits  Continued. 

of  the  mortgagees  of  the  fort  and  seigniory,  he  ejected  La 
Salle's  lieutenant,  La  Forrest,  and  put  two  of  his  own 
minions,  La  Chesnaye  and  La  Ber,  in  charge  of  the  fort. 
No  sooner  were  these  appointees  installed  in  office,  than 
they  began  living  off  of  La  Salle's  stores,  and  they  were 
afterward  accused  of  selling  what  had  been  provided  them 
by  the  government  for  their  own  benefit.  But  not  content 
with  this  arbitrary  stretch  of  power,  and  bent  upon  the 
ruin  of  La  Salle,  Gov.  La  Barre  next  sent  the  Sieur  de 
Baugis,  an  officer  of  the  king's  dragoons,  to  Fort  St.  Louis, 
and  made  him  the  bearer  of  a  letter  to  La  Salle,  requiring 
his  presence  at  Quebec.  The  position  of  the  latter  had 
now  become  intolerable,  and  he  resolved  to  proceed  to 
France,  in  order  to  obtain  relief  from  the  crown.  Giving 
the  command  at  Fort  St.  Louis  to  M.  de  Tonty,  and  bid- 
ding adieu  to  his  French  and  Indian  retainers.  La  Salle 
departed  for  Canada  about  the  first  of  October.  Enroute, 
he  met  De  Baugis,  who  informed  him  of  the  nature  of  his 
errand.  The  former  submitted  to  the  indignity  with  as 
good  a  grace  as  possible  under  the  circumstances,  and  sent 
a  letter  to  Tonty  to  receive  the  new  commandant  with  due 
courtesy.  Arrived  at  Fort  St.  Louis,  De  Baugis  and  Tonty 
passed  the  winter  there  together,  though  not  very  harmoni- 
ously— the  one  commanding  in  the  name  of  La  Barre,  and 
the  other  representing  the  interests  of  La  Salle. 

In  the  following  spring  they  both  had  enough  to  do. 
The  threatened  incursion  of  the  Iroquois  had  been  post- 
poned, yet  not  abandoned.  In  the  last  of  March,  1684, 
those  restless  and  enterprising  warriors,  to  the  number  of 
three  hundred — taking  advantage  of  La  Salle's  absence, 
and  incited  thereto  by  certain  of  the  provincial  authorities 
of  New  York,  who  wished  to  divert  the  fur-trade  of  the 
western  Indians  from  Montreal  to  Albany — again  invaded 
the  country  of  the  Illinois,  and  laid  siege  to  the  rock-seated 
fort  of  St.  Louis.  But  it  proved  too  strong  for  their  un- 
skillful and  unsteady  assault,  and  after  six  days  effort  they 
retreated  with  loss. 


He  Arrives  in  Paris.  153 


.       CH APT KR  VIII. 

1684-1687. 
LAST    GREAT    ENTERPRISE    OF    LA    SALLE. 

The  Sieur  de  la  Salle  arrived  from  the  west  at  Quebec 
early  in  November,  1683,  and  there  embarkedfor  Old  France. 
He  thus,  unwittingly,  took  a  last  leave  of  the  wide  and  wild 
theater  of  Canada,  where,  for  sixteen  years,  he  had  played 
so  conspicuous  a  part  as  an  explorer  and  negotiator  with 
the  Indians,  sometimes  achieving  signal  triumphs,  but,  more 
often,  experiencing  severe  reverses  of  fortune.  After  an 
uneventful  ocean  passage,  he  landed  at  Rochelle  on  the 
23d  of  December,  and  thence  traveled  by  diligence  to  Paris ; 
then  and  still  the  eye.  of  France,  and  the  gay  capital  of  Eu- 
rope. Here  he  was  joined  by  his  lieutenant,  La  Forrest, 
and  later  on,  by  Zenobe  Membre,  both  of  whom  had  pre- 
ceded him  from  Canada.  Here,  too,  he  found  influential 
friends,  who  appreciated  his  merits  and  services  to  the 
crown.  Among  the  number  was  his  former  patron,  Count 
Frontenac,  who,  though  in  retirement  for  the  time,  gave 
him  the  benefit  of  his  influence,  still  considerable,  at  court. 

La  Salle  now  prepared  and  laid  before  the  Marquis  de 
Seignelay,*  Minister  of  Marine  and  Colonies,  two  memo- 
rials (including  a  petition  for  the  redress  of  his  grievances), 
setting  forth  his  discoveries  and  plans  for  the  colonization 
of  Louisiana.  He  proposed  to  establish  a  fortified  colony 
on  the  river  Colbert,  or  Mississippi,  some  sixty  leagues 
above  its  mouth,  and  to  make  it  the  principal  depot  for  the 
trade  of  the  great  river  valley.  To  accomplish  this  design, 
he  asked  for  one  war  vessel  of  thirty  guns,  a  few  cannon 
for  the  forts,  and  authority  to  raise,  in  France,  two  hun- 
dred men,  who  were  to  be  armed  and  maintained  at  the 


*  Seignelay  was  a  son  and  successor  of  the  great  Colbert,  who  died 
September  6,  1683. 


154  Last  Great  Enterprise  of  La  Salle. 

king's  charge  for  one  year.  He  further  proposed,  with  this 
force,  and  an  army  of  Indian  warriors,  to  be  afterward 
raised  by  himself,  to  undertake  the  conquest  of  New  Biscay 
(Durango),  the  most  northerly  intendejicy  of  Mexico,  where 
there  were  not  more  than  five  hundred  Spaniards.  La  Salle 
accompanied  his  memorials  with  a  map,  indicating  his  dis- 
coveries in  the  country  called  Louisiana,  which,  however, 
showed  that  he  still  had  but  an  imperfect  knowledge  of  the 
geography  of  that  region. 

In  the  beginning  of  April,  1684,  La  Salle  was  granted 
an  interview  with  his  majesty,  Louis  XIV.,  to  whom  he  un- 
folded his  fascinating  scheme.  The  time  was  opportune  for 
his  application.  The  grand  monarch  had  been  long  incensed 
at  Spain  (with  which  kingdom  he  was  now  again  at  war) 
because  of  her  jealous  exclusion  of  French  ships  from  her 
American  ports,  and  he  was  anxious  to  gain  a  permanent 
footing  on  the  shores  of  the  Mexican  Gulf,  within  easy 
reach  of  his  West  India  possessions.  It  was,  therefore,  not 
difficult  to  obtain  the  royal  assent  and  patronage  to  an  en- 
terprise which  accorded  so  well  with  his  own  ambition. 
Our  explorer  had  asked  for  the  use  of  only  one  vessel,  but 
the  king,  in  his  generosity,  gave  him  four.  At  the  same 
time,  as  an  act  of  simple  justice  to  La  Salle,  he  wrote  a 
letter  to  Governor  La  Barre,  at  Quebec,  directing  him  to 
restore  to  the  former  possession  of  Forts  Frontenac  and  St. 
Louis ;  and  La  Forrest  was  shortly  sent  back  to  Canada, 
empowered  to  re-occupy  both  forts  in  La  Salle's  name. 

Active  preparations  were  now  begun  for  the  colonizing 
expedition,  and  agents  were  sent  to  Rochelle  and  Rochefort 
to  collect  recruits.  About  one  hundred  and  fifty  ex-soldiers 
were  enrolled,  most  of  whom,  unfortunately,  belonged  to 
the  beggar  and  vagabond  class.  There  was,  however,  one 
volunteer  soldier,  named  Henri  Joutel,  who  came  from  La 
Salle's  own  town  of  Rouen,  and  whose  father  had  been  a 
gardener  to  the  Cavaliers.  He  proved  a  trusty  and  useful 
officer,  and  subsequently  became  the  principal  historian  of 
the  expedition.  La  Salle  had  given  orders  to  engage  three 
or  four  mechanics  in  each  of  the  principal  trades ;  but  the 
selection  was  so  poor  that  when  they  reached  their  destina- 


Preparations  for  His  Expedition.  155 

tion  it  was  found  that  they  were  very  indifferent  workmen. 
Eight  or  ten  families  of  respectable  people,  and  some  young 
women,  attracted  by  the  prospect  of  matrimony,  offered 
to  go  and  help  found  the  new  colony.  Their  offers  were 
accepted,  and  considerable  advances  were  made  to  them,  as 
well  as  to  the  artisans  and  soldiers.  Several  adventurous 
young  gentlemen,  of  good  families,  also  joined  the  expedi- 
tion as  volunteers.  Among  them  were  two  nephews  of  La 
Salle,  the  Sieur  de  Moranget,  and  the  Sieur  Cavelier,  the 
latter  being  only  fourteen  years  of  age. 

One  "of  the  first  cares  of  the  leader  had  been  to  pro- 
vide for  the  ecclesiastical  part  of  his  enterprise,  in  which  it 
became  necessary  to  procure  a  special  dispensation  from  the 
Pope.  Applying  to  the  superior-general  of  the  Seminary 
of  St.  Sulpice,  the  latter  appointed  three  priests  to  accom- 
pany him  and  found  a  new  mission.  They  were  Jean  Cav- 
elier, brother  of  La  Salle,  M.  Chefdeville,  his  relative,  and 
M.  de  Maiulle,  called  Dainmaville  by  Joutel.  As  the  Re- 
collets  had  for  a  number  of  years  actively  seconded  the  de- 
signs of  La  Salle,  he  made  it  a  point  to  take  as  many  as 
three  of  those  fathers  with  him  also.  He  accordingly  ap- 
plied to  the  superior  of  that  order,  who  granted  him  the 
religious  he  desired,  namely:  Father  Zenobious  Membre, 
superior  of  the  mission,  Anastasius  Douay,  and  Maximus 
Le  Clercq. 

Such  was  the  personnel  of  the  soldiers,  artisans,  emi- 
grants, priests,  and  adventurers,  who  were  to  plant  the 
standard  of  France  and  the  cross  on  the  wilderness  shores 
of  far-away  Louisiana.  It  were  needless  to  observe  that, 
,  for  the  most  part,  they  were  ill-adapted  by  discipline  or 
experience  for  the  stern  task  set  before  them. 

The  fleet,  which  was  furnished  by  the  king,  consisted 
of  four  vessels,  namely :  The  Joly,  a  royal  ship  or  frigate, 
carrying  thirty-six  guns;  the  Belle,  a  small  frigate  of  six 
guns ;  the  Aimable,  a  store-ship ;  and  the  St.  Francois,  a 
ketch  of  two  masts.  La  Salle  had  asked  to  be  given  sole 
command  of  the  expedition,  with  a  subordinate  officer  and 
two  or  three  pilots  to  navigate  the  ships,  as  he  might  direct. 
But  the  Marquis  de  Seignelay  gave  the  command  to  Capt. 


156  Last  Great  Enterprise  of  La  Salle. 

Beaujeu,  of  the  royal  navy,  whose  authority  was  restricted 
to  the  management  of  the  vessels  at  sea,  while  La  Salle 
was  to  prescribe  the  route  they  were  to  take  and  com- 
mand on  shore.  This  division  of  authority  displeased 
both  men,  and  caused  chafing  and  bickering  between 
them  from  the  start.  Yet  it  was  perhaps  the  best  that 
Minister  Seignelay  could  do  under  the  circumstances,  as 
La  Salle  himself  was  without  nautical  skill  or  experience. 
Beaujeu  was  a  Franco-Norman,  and  an  officer  of  approved 
valor  and  experience,  but  envious,  self-willed,  irascible, 
and  utterly  wanting  in  the  qualifications  requisite  to  the 
founding  of  a  distant  colony.  Moreover,  his  wife  is  said  to 
have  been  dominated  by  the  Jesuits,  a  circumstance  that 
excited  La  Salle's  suspicion.  Amid  the  hurry  and  bustle  of 
the  embarkation,  La  Salle  did  not  forget  to  write  to  his 
aged  mother  a  farewell  letter,  which  has  been  preserved 
among  the  family  papers  of  the  Caveliers. 

All  things  having  been  provided  necessary  for  the  voy- 
age, the  little  fleet,  bearing  about  two  hundred  and  eighty 
persons,  including  the  crews  of  the  vessels,  sailed  from 
Rochelle  on  the  24th  of  July,  1684.  When  two  or  three  days 
out,  the  bowsprit  of  the  frigate  Joly  broke,  which  compelled 
Capt. Beaujeu  to  return  to  the  portof  Chef  deBois  to  procure 
a  new  one.  This  accomplished,  the  fleet  again  put  to  sea 
on  the  first  day  of  August,  steering  to  the  south,  southwest. 
After  weathering  the  Island  of  Madeira,  they  entered  the 
region  of  the  trade  winds,  and  encountered  two  separate 
storms,  the  second  of  which  dispersed  the  vessels.  The  Joly, 
in  which  La  Salle  himself  had  taken  passage,  being  a  faster 
sailer  than  the  others,  reached  Petit  Goave,  on  the  west  coast 
of  St.  Domingo,  on  the  27th  of  September,  and  was  soon  after 
joined  by  the  Aimable  and  the  Belle.  The  St.  Francois,  laden 
with  provisions,  ammunition,  and  tools  for  the  new  colony,1 
lagged  behind,  and  put  in  at  Port  de  Paix,  whence  she 
sailed  to  join  the  rest  of  the  fleet;  but  during  the  night, 
while  her  captain  and  crew  thought  themselves  safe,  they 
were  surprised  by  two  Spanish  piraguas,  which  captured 
the  ketch  and  her  cargo.  The  loss  of  this  vessel  was  prima- 
rily due  to  the  negligence  of  Beaujeu,  who  had  refused  to 


8ca  Voyage  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  157 

stop  at  Port  de  Paix,  although  requested  to  do  so  by  La 
Salle.  This  was  the  first  of  the  series  of  disasters  that  befell 
the  expedition.  It  depressed  the  hopes  of  the  colonists  and 
distressed  the  mind  of  La  Salle,  who,  shortly  before  his  ar^ 
rival  in  St.  Domingo,  had  been  seized  by  a  violent  fever, 
which  afterward  affected  his  brain,  and  brought  him  to  the 
verge  of  the  grave. 

Owing  to  the  continued  illness  of  La  Salle  and  other 
causes,  the  remaining  vessels  of  his  expedition  were  de- 
tained at  the  port  of  Petit  Goave,  for  over  six  weeks. 
During  this  time  they  laid  in  fresh  provisions,  a  store  of 
Indian  corn,  and  all  kinds  of  domestic  fowls  to  stock  the 
new  colony.  The  French  governor-general  of  the  Isles, 
and  the  governor  and  intendant  of  St.  Domingo,  favored 
the  enterprise  in  every  way,  and  endeavored  to  restore  a 
good  understanding  between  La  Salle  and  Beaujeu,  so- 
necessary  to  the  success  of  the  undertaking.  Meanwhile, 
the  soldiers  and  most  of  the  crews  plunged  into  every  kind 
of  debauchery  and  intemperance,  so  common  in  the  West 
Indies,  and  thus  contracted  various  diseases,  of  which  some 
died  in  the  island,  and  others  never  recovered. 

At  length,  on  the  25th  of  November,  the  squadron, 
now  consisting  of  three  vessels,  weighed  anchor  and  again 
put  to  sea,  La  Salle  and  his  trustiest  followers  sailing  in  the 
store-ship  Aimable.  They  pursued  their  way  past  the  Cay- 
man Isles,  touched  at  the  Isle  of  Pines  to  take  in  water,, 
and  thence  sailed  to  Cape  San  Antonio  at  the  western  ex- 
tremity of  Cuba,  where  they  anchored.  Attracted  by  the 
beauty  of  the  spot,  the  French  landed  and  rested  here  for 
two  days,  and  appropriated  to  their  use  some  wine  which 
had  been  left  by  the  Spaniards.  For  fear  of  injury  by 
northerly  winds,  said  to  be  prevalent  at  the  entrance  to  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico,  on  approaching  it,  they  twice  lay  to,  but 
happily  entered  on  the  first  of  January,  1685,  when  a  sol- 
emn mass  of  thanksgiving  was  celebrated  by  Father  Anas- 
tase  Douay.  The  voyagers  were  now  upon  that  great  south- 
ern sea,  over  which  no  French  vessel,  carrying  the  national 
colors,  had  ever  before  sailed.  Steering  northward,  they 
arrived  on  the  15th  in  sight  of  the  Florida  coast,  when  a 


158  Last  Great  Enterprise  of  La  Salle. 

violent  wind  compelled  the  Joly  to  stand  off',  but  the  Aima- 
ble  and  Belle  followed  close  to  the  shore. 

La  Salle  had  been  told  in  St.  Domingo  that  the  Gulf 
Stream  ran  with  incredible  velocity  toward  the  Bahama 
channel.  This  false  information,  together  with  the  incor- 
rect sailing  directions  he  had  received,  set  him  entirely  es- 
tray ;  for  thinking  himself  much  farther  north  than  he  really 
was,  he  not  only  passed  Appalache  Bay  without  recogniz- 
ing it,  but  followed  the  coast  westward  far  beyond  the  out- 
let of  the  Mississippi,  and  would  have  continued  to  follow 
it,  if  he  and  his  fellow  voyagers  had  not  perceived  by  its 
turning  south,  and  by  the  latitude,  that  they  had  passed 
the  hidden  river.  It  will  be  remembered  that  when  La 
Salle  was  at  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi  three  years  be- 
fore, he  had  obtained  its  latitude,  approximately,  but  not 
the  longitude.  Indeed,  the  mariners  of  that  day  knew  lit- 
tle or  nothing  about  longitude. 

The  Aimable  and  the  Belle  at  last  came  to  anchor, 
about  the  middle  of  February,  at  Espiritu  Santo  Bay,  on 
the  coast  of  Texas,  and  there  awaited  the  arrival  of  Capt. 
Beaujeu,  who  joined  them  a  few  days  later  with  the  Joly. 
A  conference  was  now  held  by  the  commanders,  which  re- 
sulted in  their  resolving  to  retrace  their  course,  and  they 
returned  ten  or  twelve  leagues  to  a  bay,  which  they  named 
St.  Louis,  since  known  as  St.  Bernard,  or  Matagorda. 
As  provisions  began  to  fail,  Beaujeu  declined  to  further 
continue  the  search  on  that  exposed  coast,  unless  his  crew 
was  provisioned  from  the  stores  of  the  colonists ;  to  which 
La  Salle  objected.  Finally,  the  Sieur  La  Salle,  impatient 
of  further  delay,  anxious  to  get  rid  of  his  disagreeable  col- 
league and  command  alone,  and  thinking  that  the  lagoons 
of  the  coast  might  connect  with  the  most  westerly  arm  or 
outlet  of  the  Mississippi,  decided  to  disembark  his  troops 
and  colonists  on  the  western  shore  of  Matagorda  Bay.  To 
this  purpose,  boats  were  sent  to  sound  and  buoy  the  inlet  to 
the  bay.  This  being  done,  the  little  frigate  Belle  was  taken 
in  without  accident  on  the  18th  of  February.  On  the  20th 
the  Aimable  weighed  anchor  and  started  through  the  nar- 
row channel  leading  into  the  bay ;  but  her  captain,  M. 


He  Lands  on  the  Coast  of  Texas.  159 

d'Aigron,  being  on  ill  terms  with  La  Salle,  disregarded  his 
orders,  and  either  through  gross  negligence  or  design  drove 
the  vessel  on  the  shoals,  where  she  stranded,  so  that  she 
could  not  be  got  off. 

La  Salle  was  some  little  distance  from  the  seashore 
when  this  deplorable  disaster  happened,  and  was  on  the 
point  of  returning  to  remedy  it,  when  he  saw  a  large  party 
of  wild  Indians  approaching.  This  necessitated  his  putting 
his  men  under  arms,  and  the  roll  of  their  drums  put  the 
savages  temporarily  to  flight,  but  he  had  trouble  with  them 
afterward.  The  storeship  remained  stranded  for  three 
weeks  or  more,  without  going  to  pieces,  though  full  of 
water.  The  men  saved  all  they  could  from  her  in  boats, 
including  a  quantity  of  flour  and  powder,  but  could  only 
reach  her  in  fair  weather.  At  length  a  gale  arose,  which 
completely  wrecked  the  ship,  and  scattered  the  residue  of 
her  cargo  on  the  waters  of  the  bay. 

After  the  landing  had  been  eventually  effected,  which 
included  eight  iron  cannon  from  the  hold  of  the  Aimable, 
Beaujeu  prepared  to  depart  for  France.  Although  he  and 
La  Salle  had  been  at  variance  throughout  the  long  voyage, 
their  official  relations  became  more  amicable  at  its  close. 
He  seems,  at  heart,  to  have  wished  La  Salle  and  his  enter- 
prise well,  and  was  no  doubt  anxious  to  have  it  appear  that 
he  had  discharged  his  duty  as  naval  conductor  of  the  expe- 
dition, so  as  to  avoid  censure  from  the  Minister  of  Marine. 
Before  quitting  this  low  and  dangerous  coast,  it  is  stated 
that  he  offered  to  go  to  Martinique  and  return  with  addi- 
tional provisions  for  the  colony,  but  that  La  Salle,  from 
motives  of  pride  and  over  self-reliance,  declined  the  offer.* 
On  the  12th  or  14th  of  March,  after  a  polite  leave-taking, 
Beaujeu  sailed  away  in  the  Joly,  taking  with  him  several 
of  the  better  class  of  the  colonists,  who  had  lost  heart  in 
the  e-nterprise. 

The  remaining  adventurers,  to  the  number  of  about 
one  hundred  and  eighty,  now  found  themselves  stranded 


*  See  the  correspondence  between  Beaujeu  and  La  Salle,  printed  in 
Vol.  II  of  Margry's  Publications. 


160  Last  Great  Enterprise  of  La  Salle.  . 

upon  the  borders  of  an  unknown  wilderness,  nearly  five 
hundred  miles  from  the  place  of  their  original  destination, 
and  most  of  them  were  suffering,  more  or  less,  from  dysen- 
tery and  other  diseases  contracted  during  their  long  sea- 
voyage.  The  first  labor  of  the  commander  was  to  throw  up 
an  intrenchment  on  the  sandy  beach,  and  to  erect  therein 
a  temporary  building  in  which  to  shelter  his  people  and 
goods,  and  to  protect  them  from  the  depredations  of  the 
neighboring  savages.  The  house  was  constructed  of  drift- 
wood, cast  up  by  the  sea,  and  of  the  timbers  and  plank 
from  their  wrecked  ship.  Leaving  Joutel  and  Moranget 
with  a  hundred  men  at  this  naval  camp,  La  Salle  next  set 
out  with  some  fifty  others,  including  his  brother  and  the 
Fathers  Zenobe  and  Maxime,  to  explore  the  interior  of  the 
bay,  and  seek  a  proper  place  to  locate  his  colony.  The 
captain  or  pilot  of  the  Belle  had  orders  to  sound  the  bay 
and  take  his  vessel  in  as  far  as  he  safely  could.  He  accord- 
ingly advanced  along  the  shore  about  twelve  leagues,  and 
anchored  opposite  a  point  which  took  the  name  of  Hurier, 
from  the  officer  who  was  appointed  to  command  there. 
This  post  served  as  a  station  between  the  camp  on  the 
seashore  and  the  fort,  which  La  Salle  and  his  party  went 
(on  the  2d  of  April)  to  establish  at  the  western  head  of  the 
bay.  The  site  of  the  latter  was  fixed  on  a  rising  ground, 
two  leagues  up  a  small  river  called  LaVache,  now  La  Vaca, 
and  in  latitude  about  twenty-seven  degrees  north.  The 
building  of  the  fort  was  a  work  of  severe  and  protracted 
labor,  since  there  was  no  wood  within  a  league,  and  all  the 
timbers  had  to  be  cut  and  transported  from  a  distance, 
many  of  them  being  brought  from  the  wrreck  of  the  Ahnable. 
By  the  21st  of  April  (Easter  eve)  the  fort  was  so  far 
advanced  as  to  be  ready  for  partial  occupancy,  and  the 
Sieur  de  La  Salle  returned  to  the  main  camp.  The  suc- 
ceeding three  or  four  days  were  devoted  to  celebrating  with 
all  possible  solemnity,  under  the  circumstances,  the  festi- 
vals of  the  church,  after  which  preparations  were  made 
for  removing  the  women  and  children,  and  such  of  the  sick 
as  could  be  moved,  to  the  new  establishment.  Meanwhile, 
however,  a  few  of  the  soldiers  had  deserted,  and  others  had 


Environs  of  his  Texan  Fort.  161 

died  of  the  diseases  contracted  at  St.  Domingo,  notwith- 
standing all  the  care  they  received,  and  the  relief  afforded 
by  the  use  of  broths,  preserves,  and  wine.* 

When  the  fort  was  completed,  La  Salle  gave  to  it  his 
favorite  name  of  St.  Louis.  The  naval  camp  at  the  mouth 
of  the  bay  was  then  abandoned,  and  Joutel  and  his  com- 
mand rejoined  the  main  body  of  the  colonists.  The  fort 
was  mounted  with  eight  pieces  of  rusty  old  cannon,  and 
had  a  sort  of  magazine  under  ground  for  the  safe  deposit 
of  the  more  valuable  effects,  in  the  event  of  fire.  Here, 
then,  in  this  lone  spot  on  the  Texan  coast,  the  ensign  of 
France  was  flung  to  the  winds  of  heaven  ;  here  a  rude 
chapel  was  raised,  in  which  masses  were  said  and  vespers 
chanted  by  the  missionary  priests  and  friars;  and  here,  too, 
in  the  grassy  prairie  hard  by,  a  common  field  was  opened, 
planted,  and  tilled  for  the  maturing  of  crops.  By  this  early 
yet  transient  occupation,  the  King  of  France  gained  a 
color  of  claim  to  the  country  which,  though  contested  by 
Spain,  was  never  finally  relinquished  until  the  vast  and  in- 
definitely defined  territory  of  Louisiana  was  ceded  to  the 
government  of  the  United  States. 

The  scenery  environing  Fort  St.  Louis  was  not  without 
its  charms,  and  served  in  a  measure  to  relieve  that  feeling 
of  despondency  arising  in  the  minds  of  the  colonists  from 
their  isolation  and  misfortunes.  At  the  foot  of  the  stock- 
ade inclosure  flowed  the  river,  swarming  with  fish  and 
water-fowl,  and  beyond  that  the  bay,  bordered  by  reedy 
marshes,  stretched  away  to  the  south-east;  while  to  the 
south-west  lay  two  large  ponds,  with  a  forest  in  the  dis- 
tance. To  the  north  and  west  rolled  a  sea  of  grassy  prairie, 
dotted  at  certain  seasons  with  grazing  buffalo  and  wild  goats, 


*See  Le  Clercq's  (Father  Chretien)  "First  Establishment  of  the 
Faith  in  New  France  "  (Vol.  II),  for  an  account  of  La  Salle's  attempt  to 
reach  the  Mississippi  by  sea,  and  of  the  establishment  of  a  French  col- 
ony at  St.  Louis  or  Matagorda  Bay.  It  is,  in  some  respects,  the  best  con- 
temporaneous narrative  extant  of  that  historical  voyage.  The  discreet 
father  only  hints  at  the  unfortunate  disagreement  between  La  Salle  and 
Beaujeu,  but  this  matter  is  set  forth  in  detail  by  Joutel  and  others. 
11 


162  Last  Great  Enterprise  of  La  Salle. 

and  decked  with  the  beautiful  wild  flowers  for  which  Texas 
is  still  remarkable.  It  was,  in  truth,  as  since  demonstrated, 
a  goodly  land  for  the  habitation  of  civilized  man.  But  the 
degraded  aborigines,  with  such  uncouth  names  as  Guoaquis, 
Guinets,  Bahamos,  and  Quealomouches,  who  then  roamed 
the  coast  of  this  southern  country,  had  no  thought  of  cul- 
tivating the  soil,  or  of  any  other  useful  labor,  beyond  the 
requirements  of  a  most  meager  subsistence. 

Having  provided  as  well  as  he  could  for  the  comfort 
and  safety  of  his  people,  La  Salle  now  prepared  to  renew  his 
search  for  the  hidden  river.  But  he  first  found  it  necessary 
to  make  open  wTar  on  the  neighboring  tribes  of  Indians, 
whose  repeated  acts  of  hostility  gave  him  no  peace;  and  he 
accordingly  set  out  for  this  purpose  on  the  13th  of  October, 
with  sixty  soldiers,  wearing  wooden  corslets  to  protect 
them  against  the  arrows  of  the  savages.  In  different  en- 
gagements with  them  he  killed  some,  wounded  others,  and 
put  others  still  to  flight.  The  execution  thus  done  among 
the  natives  inspired  them  with  terror,  and  rendered  the 
colony  somewhat  more  secure  than  before. 

About  the  31st  of  October,  1685,  putting  Joutel  in  com- 
mand at  the  fort,  with  provisions  for  several  months,  La  Salle 
and  his  brother,  with  some  fifty  well-armed  men,  started  os- 
tensibly to  seek  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi.  The  accounts 
we  have  of  this  long  and  rambling  journey  are  rather 
vague  and  contradictory.  The  leader  himself  was  reticent 
as  to  his  plans  and  purposes,  and  the  story  told  by  the  elder 
Cavelier  is  not  very  intelligible.  They  first  passed  eastward 
along  the  northern  shore  of  the  bay,  and  examined  the  out- 
lets of  the  rivers  emptying  into  it,  none  of  which  seemed 
large  enough  to  form  an  arm  of  the  Mississippi.  La  Salle 
thence  turned  northward  and  westward  and  traveled  the 
country  a  long  distance,  in  the  hope,  it  would  seem, 
of  reaching  the  borders  of  Mexico.  At  length,  on  the 
13th  of  February,  1686,  having  come  to  a  large  river, 
he  built  a  small  fort  on  its  banks,  in  which  he  left  a 
part  of  his  men,  and  with  the  others  continued  to  explore 
the  country  in  the  direction  of  Mexico.  Still  advancing, 
he  visited  several  villages  and  tribes,  who  treated  him 


His  Wanderings  in  Texas.  163 

kindly,  and  from  whom  he  gained  considerable  information 
in  regard  to  the  Spaniards,  who  were  generally  hated  by 
the  Indians  in  Texas.  Under  other  circumstances,  it  would 
have  been  no  very  difficult  task  to  have  gathered  an  army 
of  native  warriors  and  led  them  across  the  Rio  del  Norte ; 
but  La  Salle  was  without  horses  and  a  sufficiency  of  men 
to  prosecute  his  contemplated  invasion  of  New  Biscay.* 
He  was  away  on  this  expedition  longer  than  he  had  expected, 
owing  to  delays  in  rafting  over  so  many  rivers,  and  the  ne- 
cessity, wherever  he  went  into  camp,  of  throwing  up  in- 
trenchments  to  guard  against  Indian  assaults.  Retracing 
their  tortuous  course,  the  leader  and  his  followers  reached 
Fort  St.  Louis  in  the  latter  part  of  March,  tattered,  weather- 
beaten,  and  worn  out  by  long  marchings  and  vigils,  but 
bringing  with  them  a  welcome  supply  of  fresh  meat  for  the 
other  colonists. 

Shortly  before  this  the  Belle,  the  only  remaining  vessel 
of  the  colony,  was  lost  on  the  farther  side  of  the  bay,  though 
it  was  some  weeks  before  particulars  of  the  accident  were 
received  at  the  fort.  Through  a  lack  of  precaution  on  the 
part  of  those  in  charge  of  her,  she  was  wrecked  with  all  her 
stores,  consisting  of  thirty-six  barrels  of  flour,  a  quantity  of 
powder,  some  tools,  and  a  lot  of  the  clothing  and  personal 
effects  belonging  to  La  Salle.  The  priest  Chefdeville,  the 
pilot,  and  four  of  the  crew  escaped  with  difficulty  in  a 
canoe,-  but  managed  to  save  some  of  the  papers  and  luggage 
of  their  chief.  Meantime,  La  Salle  himself  fell  seriously  ill, 
the  fatigues,  of  his  great  journey,  and  the  tidings  of  this 
last  misfortune,  having  overcome  his  physical  strength. 
"  In  truth  (says  the  priest  Cavelier,  in  his  Relation  du  Voy- 
age), after  the  loss  of  the  vessel,  which  deprived  us  of  our 
only  means  of  returning  to  France,  we  had  no  resource  but 
in  the  firm  guidance  of  my  brother,  whose  death  each  of  us 
would  have  regarded  as  his  own."  So  long  as  the  little 
frigate  remained,  La  Salle  had  the  means  of  following 
along  the  coast  and  finding  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi, 

*According  to  Mr.  Shea,  La  Salle  was  lured  by  Penaloso,  a  renegade 
Spanish  governor  of  NewvMexico,  to  undertake  the  conquest  of  the  rich 
mines  in  northern  Mexico. 


164  Last  Great  Enterprise  of  La  Salle. 

and  he  might  also  have  sailed  to  St.  Domingo  and  ob- 
tained succor  for  his  colony.  But  now,  all  his  plans  being 
disconcerted  and  his  affairs  brought  to  a  crisis,  he  resolved 
to  try  and  reach  Canada  by  land. 

This  resolution  was  the  result  of  dire  necessity,  and  he 
must  have  anticipated  the  difficulties  and  hazards  likely 
to  attend  its  execution.  Preparations  were  speedily  made 
for  the  journey ;  and  on  April  22, 1686,  after  celebrating  the 
divine  mysteries  in  the  little  chapel,  La  Salle  issued  from 
the  gate  of  the  fort,  accompanied  by  his  brother,  his  nephew 
Moranget,  the  friar  Douay,  the  younger  Duhaut,  a  German 
from  Wittemburg  named  Hiens,*  and  others  to  the  number 
of  twenty  in  all.  They  traveled  on  foot,  each  man  carrying 
his  pack  and  weapons  on  his  shoulders,  and  shaped  their 
general  course  to  the  north-east.  Crossing  the  Colorado  on 
a  raft,  they  journeyed  through  a  pleasant  country  of  alter- 
nate prairie  and  woodland,  decked  with  wild  flowers,  and 
clothed  in  the  fresh  green  livery  of  spring.  After  passing 
the  Brazos  and  Trinity,  and  other  smaller  rivers,  they 
reached  the  habitations  of  the  Cenis  Indians  (then  a  power- 
ful tribe,  but  now  long  since  extinct),  where  they  experi- 
enced a  friendly  reception.  Here  the  travelers  were  sur- 
prised to  see  saddles,  bridles,  clothing,  and  various  other 
articles  of  Spanish  manufacture,  which  these  Indians  had 
obtained  from  their  allies,  the  Comanches,  who  inhabited 
the  country  bordering  New  Mexico.  After  quitting  the 
Cenis  village,  La  Salle  and  his  company  advanced  eastward 
as  far  as  the  river  Neches,f  in  the  vicinity  of  which  both 
himself  and  nephew  were  attacked  by  malarial  fever.  This 
mishap  caused  a  delay  of  some  two  months,  and  proved 
fatal  to  the  success  of  the  expedition.  When  the  sick  leader 
was  sufficiently  convalescent  to  travel,  he  found  that  his  am- 
munition was  well  nigh  spent,  and  that  four  of  his  men  had 


*  Hiens  was  an  ex-buccaneer,  who  had  joined  La  Salle's  expedition 
at  Petit  Goave,  in  St.  Domingo. 

tThe  name  Tejas  or  Texas  was  first  applied  (by  the  Spaniards)  as  a 
local  designation  to  a  spot  on  the  river  Neches,  in  the  Cenis  territory, 
whence  it  extended  to  the  whole  country. — Yoakum's  History  of  Texas, 
p.  52. 


His  Journey  to  the  Cents  Villages.  165 

deserted  to  the  Assonis  Indians.  Under  these  untoward 
circumstances,  no  better  alternative  presented  itself  than 
to  return  to  Fort  St.  Louis.  Their  return  march  was 
greatly  facilitated  by  the  use  of  some  horses,  which  La 
Salle  had  bought  of  the  Cenis,  and  they  met  with  no  serious 
accident  on  the  way,  excepting  the  loss  of  one  of  their  men, 
who  was  seized  by  an  alligator  while  attempting  to  cross  a 
large  river,  supposed  to  have  been  the  Colorado. 

The  temporary  excitement  produced  in  the  little  band 
of  colonists  by  the  return  of  their  chief  soon  gave  way  to 
a  feeling  of  dejection  akin  to  despair,  and  La  Salle  had  a 
hard  task  to  sustain  their  drooping  spirits.  But  the  jour- 
ney to  Canada,  by  way  of  the  Illinois,  was  their  only  hope ; 
and  the  chief,  after  a  brief  rest,  prepared  to  renew  the  at- 
tempt. In  the  month  of  November,  while  thus  occupied,  he 
was  again  taken  sick  with  a  flux,  which  prostrated  him  for 
four  or  five  weeks.  At  the  end  of  this  time  he  was  once 
more  able  to  travel,  and  all  hands  at  the  fort  were  busied  in 
making  from  their  scanty  stores  an  outfit  for  his  traveling 
party.  Christmas  day  again  came,  and  was  solemnly  ob- 
served. "  There  was  a  midnight  mass  in  the  chapel,  where 
Membre,  Douay,  Cavelier,  and  their  priestly  brethren,  stood 
in  vestments  strangely  contrasting  with  the  rude  temple 
and  ruder  garb  of  the  worshipers.  And  as  Membre  ele- 
vated the  consecrated  wafer,  and  the  lamps  burned  dim 
through  the  clouds  of  incense,  the  kneeling  group  drew 
from  the  daily  miracle  such  consolation  as  true  Catholics 
alone  can  know."  * 

It  was  on  the  morning  of  the  7th  of  January,  1687, 
that  La  Salle  mustered  his  small  company  of  adventurers 
for  this  his  last  journey.  The  five  horses  purchased  from 
the  Cenis  Indians  were  brought  into  the  inclosed  area  of  the 
fort,  and  loaded  for  the  march.  Assembled  here  was  the 
poor  remnant  of  the  colony — those  who  were  to  go,  and 
those  who  were  to  stay  behind.  The  latter  numbered  some- 
thing over  twenty  persons.  There  was  the  Sieur  Barbier, 
who  was  to  command  in  place  of  Joutel ;  the  Marquis 


*  Parkman's  La  Salle  and  the  Great  West,  p.  373. 


166  Last  Great  Enterprise  of  La  Salle. 

de  Sablonniere,  a  dissolute  young  nobleman;  the  two  friars, 
Membre  and  Le  Clercq,  and  the  young  priest  Chefdeville ; 
also  a  surgeon,  some  few  soldiers  and  laborers,  seven  women 
and  girls,  and  a  few  children — all  of  whom  were  "  doomed 
in  this  deadly  exile  to  wait  the  issues  of  the  journey,  and 
the  possible  arrival  of  a  tardy  succor."  La  Salle  had  pre- 
viously caused  an  earthwork  to  be  thrown  up  around  the 
habitations  of  the  colonists  adjoining  the  fort,  and  had 
taken  other  precautions  for  their  safety.  He  now  made 
them  a  farewell  address,  full  of  touching  pathos,  and 
delivered  with  that  engaging  air  which  this  unhappy  man 
sometimes  assumed,  and  which  moved  them  all  to  tears. 
Then  followed  the  painful  parting  scene.  "  We  separated 
from  each  other,"  says  Joutel,  "in  a  manner  so  tender  and 
so  sad,  that  it  seemed  we  all  had  the  presentiment  that  we 
should  never  meet  again."  *  At  length,  equipped  and  armed 
for  the  journey,  the  adventurers  filed  from  the  gate,  crossed 
the  little  river  La  Vache,  and  held  their  slow  march  over 
the  prairie  to  the  north-east,  "  till  intervening  woods  shut 
Fort  St.  Louis  forever  from  their  sight." 

La  Salle's  traveling  party  was  made  up  of  some  good 
and  several  bad  men,  and  was  perhaps  not  wholly  of  his 
own  selection.  It  comprised  his  brother  and  their  two 
nephews,  Moranget,  and  the  boy  Cavelier,  now  aged  about 
seventeen;  the  friar,  Anastase  Douay;  the  trusty  soldier, 
Joutel ;  Duhaut,  -a  man  of  reputed  respectable  birth  and 
education  ;  Liotot,  the  surgeon  of  the  company ;  Hiens,  the 
German  and  ex-buccaneer ;  the  Sieur  de  Marie ;  Teissier,  a 
pilot ;  L'Archeveque,  a  servant  of  Duhaut,  and  a  few 
others,  numbering  in  all  seventeen.  Besides  these,  there 
was  Nika,  La  Salle's  Shawanoe  hunter,  who,  together  with 
another  Indian,  "  had  twice  crossed  the  ocean  with  him, 
and  still  followed  his  fortunes  with  an  admiring  though 
undemonstrative  fidelity."  f 

Pursuing  the  same  route  as  before,  the  travelers  ad- 
vanced over  a  level  country  of  grassy  prairies  and  wooded 


*  Joutel's  Journal  Historique. 

tParkman's  La  Salle  and  the  Great  West,  p.  397. 


Murder  of  his  Nephew,  Moranget.  167 

river  bottoms,  meeting  on  the  way  a  war  party  of  the 
Bahamos,  and  several  other  bands  of  Indians,  more  or  less 
friendly.  They  successively  crossed  the  Colorado  and  the 
Brazos  in  a  portable  canoe  covered  with  bullocks'  hides,  and, 
after  passing  several  other  smaller  streams,  encamped  near 
a  western  tributary  of  the  Trinity,  on  the  15th  of  March. 

La  Salle  was  now  in  the  vicinity  of  some  corn  and 
beans,  which  he  had  concealed  in  a  pit  during  his  former 
expedition,  and  he  sent  seven  of  his  men  to  find  it.  They 
were  Duhaut,  Liotot,  Hiens,  Teissier,  L'Archeveque,  Nika, 
the  Indian  hunter,  and  Saget,  a  servant  of  the  chief.  They 
found  and  opened  the  cache,  but  its  contents  were  unfit  for 
use.  In  returning,  however,  they  killed  two  buffaloes,  and 
sent  Saget  back  to  the  main  camp  for  horses  to  bring  in 
the  meat.  The  next  day  La  Salle  ordered  Moranget  and 
De  Marie  to  go  with  his  servant  and  the  horses  to  the 
hunters'  camp.  Proceeding  on  their  errand,  the  latter 
found  the  carcasses  of  the  buffaloes  cut  up  and  placed  upon 
a  scaffold  to  dry.  In  accordance  with  a  custom  among 
hunters,  Duhaut  and  his  companions  had  put  aside  the 
marrow  bones  and  other  choice  bits  of  the  game  for  their 
own  use.  Seeing  this,  the  hot-headed  Moranget,  whose 
quarrelsome  temper  had  before  involved  him  in  difficulties, 
fell  into  a  rage  and  abused  and  menaced  Duhaut  and  his 
friends,  and  ended  by  appropriating  both  the  smoked  meat 
and  the  bones  to  himself.  This  outburst  of  passion  seems 
to  have  kindled  into  an  avenging  flame  an  old  grudge 
which  Duhaut  had  cherished  toward  Moranget,  as  well  as 
his  uncle. 

Duhaut  thereupon  withdrew,  and  privately  conspired 
with  Liotot,  Hiens,  and  others  of  their  party,  upon  a  bloody 
revenge.  Waiting  until  night,  when  the  Sieur  Moranget, 
their  principal  victim,  after  taking  his  turn  at  watch,  had 
fallen  asleep,  the  conspirators  silently  approached  the  spot 
where  he  lay,  and  while  the  others  stood  by  with  their  guns 
cocked,  Liotot  brained  him  with  an  ax.  Nika,  the  Indian, 
and  Saget,  La  Salle's  footman,  were  dispatched  in  the  same 
manner.  The  last  two  died  without  a  struggle,  but  it  ap- 
pears to  have  been  otherwise  with  Moranget.  The  sacrifice 


168  Last  Great  Enterprise  of  La  Salle. 

of  the  unoffending  Nika  and  Saget  shows  the  deep-seated 
villany  of  the  assassins ;  but  it  was  no  doubt  made  in  order 
to  cut  off  all  communication  with  the  chief,  whom  they 
had  singled  out  as  their  next  and  main  victim.  And  so 
it  often  happens  that  the  commission  of  one  bloody  crime 
leads  on  to  another,  and  still  another,  until  at  last  the  per- 
petrator expiates  his  offenses  with  his  own  life. 

Meanwhile,  La  Salle  himself  was  at  the  main  camp, 
six  miles  or  more  away,  impatiently  waiting  the  return  of 
his  nephew  and  party.  Two  days  were  thus  passed  in 
painful  suspense,  when,  on  the  morning  of  the  19th  of 
March,  he  started  out  in  search  of  his  missing  relative  and 
servant,  accompanied  only  by  Father  Douay  and  an  Indian 
guide.  Joutel,  whom  he  had  at  first  intended  to  take  with 
him,  was  left  in  charge  of  the  camp,  with  instructions  to 
keep  a  strict  watch ;  for  it  seems  that  La  Salle,  always 
more  or  less  suspicious,  had  observed  the  mutinous  spirit 
of  some  of  his  men. 

"All  the  way,"  writes  Father  Douay,  "  he  conversed 
with  me  of  matters  of  piety,  grace,  and  predestination ;  ex- 
patiating on  all  his  obligations  to  God  for  having  saved  him 
from  so  many  dangers  during  the  last  twenty  years  that  he 
had  traversed  America.  .  .  .  Suddenly,  I  saw  him 
plunged  into  a  deep  melancholy,  for  which  he  himself  could 
not  account ;  he  was  so  troubled  that  I  did  not  know  him 
any  longer ;  (and)  as  this  state  was  far  from  being  natural 
to  him,  I  roused  him  from  his  lethargy.  Two  leagues  after, 
we  found  the  bloody  cravat  of  his  lackey ;  he  perceived  two 
eagles  flying  over  his  head,  and  at  the  same  time  discovered 
some  of  his  people  on  the  edge  of  the  river,  which  he  ap- 
proached, asking  for  his  nephew.  They  answered  in  broken 
words,  showing  us  where  we  should  find  him.  We  pro- 
ceeded some  steps  along  the  bank  to  the  fatal  spot,  where 
two  of  these  murderers  were  hidden  in.  the  grass,  one  on 
each  side  with  guns  cocked ;  one  missed  Monsieur  de  la 
Salle,  the  other  firing  at  the  same  time  shot  him  in  the 
head  ;  he  died  an  hour  after,  on  the  9th  of  March,  1687. 

"  I  expected  the  same  fate,  but  this  danger  did  not  oc- 
cupy my  thoughts ;  penetrated  with  grief  at  so  cruel  a  spec- 


His  Assassination.  169 

tacle,  I  saw  him  fall  a  step  from  me,  with  his  face  all  foil  of 
blood ;  I  watered  it  with  my  tears,  exhorting  him  to  the 
best  of  my  power  to  die  well.  He  had  confessed  and  ful- 
filled his  devotion  just  before  we  started  ;  he  had  still  time 
to  recapitulate  a  part  of  his  life,  and  I  gave  him  absolution. 
.  .  .  Meanwhile  his  murderers,  as  much  alarmed  as  I, 
began  to  strike  their  breasts  and  detest  their  blindness.  I 
could  not  leave  the  spot  where  he  had  expired  without  hav- 
ing buried  him,  as  well  as  I  could,  after  which  I  raised  a 
cross  over  his  grave."  * 

Such  is  the  simple  and  pathetic  narrative  of  the  only 
eye-witness,  who  has  given  us  an  account  of  La  Salle's  un- 
happy death.  So  much  of  this  narration  as  relates  to  the 
alleged  manifestation  of  remorse  by  his  murderers,  to  the 
burial  of  his  body  and  the  erection  of  a  cross  over  it,  is  ex- 
pressly contradicted  by  Joutel,  and  is  not  sustained  by  any 
writing  of  the  elder  Cavelier.  Indeed,  it  is  affirmed  that 
Douay  told  a  different  story  at  the  time ;  and  it  would  seem 
that  he  invented  these  fictions  to  soften  the  atrocity  of  the 
crime  itself,  as  also  to  support  his  own  character  as  a  priest 
and  man  of  resolution.  As  supplementary  to  the  above, 
we  here  give  M.  Joutel's  account  of  the  catastrophe: 

"  He  (La  Salle)  seemed  to  have  some  presage  of  his 
misfortune,  inquiring  of  some  whether  the  Sieurs  Liotot, 
Hiens,  and  Duhaut  had  not  expressed  some  discontent. 
And  not  hearing  any  thing  of  it,  he  could  not  forbear  set- 
ting out  the  20th,  with  Father  Anastasi'us  (Douay)  and  an 
Indian,  leaving  me  the  command  in  his  absence,  and  charg- 
ing me  to  go  the  rounds  about  our  camp,  to  prevent  being 
surprised,  and  to  make  a  smoke  for  him  to  direct  his  way 
in  case  of  need.  When  he  came  near  the  dwelling  (camp) 
of  the  murderers,  looking  out  sharp  to  discover  something, 
he  observed  eagles  fluttering  about  a  spot  not  far  from  them, 
which  made  him  believe  they  had  found  some  carrion,  and 
he  fired  a  shot,  which  was  the  signal  of  his  death  and  for- 
warded it. 


*  See  Douay's  Narrative,  in  Shea's  Discov.  and  Explo.  of  the  Miss. 
VaL,  pp.  213-14. 


170  Last  Great  Enterprise  of  La  Salic. 

"  The  conspirators,  hearing  the  shot,  concluded  it  was 
M.  de  la  Salle,  who  was  come  to  seek  them.  They  made 
ready  their  arms,  and  provided  to  surprise  him.  Duhaut 
passed  the  river,  with  Larcheveque.  The  first  of  them  spy- 
ing M.  de  la  Salle  at  a  distance,  as  he  was  coming  toward 
them,  advanced  and  hid  themselves  among  the  high  weeds, 
to  wait  his  passing  by ;  so  that  M.  de  la  Salle,  suspecting 
nothing,  and  having  not  so  much  as  charged  his  piece  again, 
saw  the  aforesaid  Larcheveque  at  a  good  distance  from  him, 
and  immediately  asked  for  his  nephew,  Moranget,  to  which 
Larcheveque  answered  that  he  was  along  the  river.  At  the 
same  time  the  traitor,  Duhaut,  fired  his  piece  and  shot  M. 
de  la  Salle  through  the  head,  so  that  he  dropped  down  dead 
on  the  spot,  without  speaking  one  word.  .  .  .  This  is 
the  exact  relation  of  that  murder,  as  it  was  presently  after 
told  me  by  Father  Anastasius. 

"  The  shot  which  had  killed  M.  de  la  Salle  was  also 
a  signal  of  the  murder  to  the  (other)  assassins  for  them  to 
draw  near.  They  all  repaired  to  the  place  where  the 
wretched  dead  corpse  lay,  which  they  barbarously  stripped 
to  the  shirt,  and  vented  their  malice  in  vile  and  opprobri- 
ous language.  The  surgeon,  Liotot,*  said  several  times,  in 
scorn  and  derision :  '  There  thou  liest,  great  bashaw ! 
There  thou  liest!'  In  conclusion,  they  dragged  it  naked 
among  the  bushes,  and  left  it  exposed  to  the  ravenous 
wild  beasts."f 

The  precise  locality  of  this  gloomy  tragedy,  or  suc- 
cession of  tragedies,  can  not  now  be  determined.  It  is  said 
(correctly,  we  think)  to  have  occurred  on  a  small  tributary 
of  the  Trinity,  since  it  was  only  about  three  days  slow  jour- 
ney from  thence  to  the  main  trunk  of  that  river.  But  Mr. 
Sparks,  in  his  Life  of  La  Salle,  says,  "  the  place  was  proba- 
bly on  one  of  the  streams  flowing  into  the  Brazos  from  the 

*  According  to  Tonty's  Relation,  Liotot's  grievance  against  La  Salle 
was,  that  in  the  journey  along  the  sea-coast,  he  had  compelled  the 
brother  of  Liotot,  who,  could  not  keep  up,  to  return  to  the  camp,  and 
that  in  returning  alone  he  was  killed  by  the  savages ;  but  this  is  not 
confirmed  by  Joutel. 

tSee  JoutePs  Journal,  printed  in  the  Hist.  Coil's  of  La.,  edited  by 
B.  F.  French,  N.  Y.,  1846,  Part  I.,  pp.  143,  144. 


His  Character.  171 

•east, — perhaps  forty  or  fifty  miles  north  of  the  present 
town  of  Washington,  Texas." 

Thus  violently  ended,  at  the  age  of  forty-three  years 
and  four  months,  the  extraordinary  career  of  Robert  Cave- 
lier,  Sieur  de  la  Salle ;  a  man  celebrated  alike  for  his 
•daring  and  discoveries,  his  merits  and  misfortunes.  We 
could  have  wished  that  his  life  had  been  longer  spared,  so 
that  he  might  have  found  means  to  extricate  the  remnant 
of  his  Texan  colony  from  impending  destruction.  The 
character  of  La  Salle  has  been  drawn  by  many  different 
pens,  yet,  in  general,  they  have  found  it  easier  to  sum  up 
his  defects  and  failures  than  to  set  in  a  proper  light  his 
transcendent  virtues.  His  reputation  as  a  successful  ex- 
plorer and  colonizer  would  probably  have  stood  higher 
with  his  contemporaries  and  posterity,  if  he  had  never  em- 
barked from  France  on  his  last  expedition  to  the  Mis- 
sissippi ;  but  then  his  name  would  be  divested  of  much 
of  that  dramatic  and  tragic  interest  with  which  it  is  en- 
shrouded. 

Hennepin,  in  the  preface  to  his  "  New  Discovery," 
written  chiefly  for  Dutch  and  English  readers,  uses  this  harsh 
language  in  regard  to  La  Salle's  melancholy  fate :  "  God 
knows  that  I  am  sorry  for  his  unfortunate  death ;  but  the 
judgments  of  the  Almighty  are  just,  for  that  gentleman 
was  killed  by  one  of  his  own  men,  who  were  at  last  sensi- 
ble that  he  exposed  them  to  visible  dangers  without  any 
necessity,  and  for  his  private  design." 

Again,  in  his  "  Nouveau  Voyage,"  or  continuation  of 
his  "  New  Discovery,"*  he  whites  in  a  different  strain,  as 
follows :  "  Thus  fell  the  Sieur  Robert  Cavelier  de  la  Salle, 
a  man  of  considerable  merit,  constant  in  adversities,  fear- 
less, generous,  courteous,  ingenious,  and  capable  of  every- 
thing. He  labored  for  twenty  years  together  to  civilize 
the  savage  humors  of  a  great  number  of  barbarous  people 
among  whom  he  traveled,  and  had  the  ill-hap  to  be  mas- 
sacred by  his  own  servants,  whom  he  had  enriched.  He 
died  in  the  vigor  of  his  age,  in  the  midddle  of  his  course, 


*  English  edition,  London,  1699,  p.  34. 


172  Last  Great  Enterprise,  of  La  Salle. 

before  he  could  execute  the  design  he  had  formed  on  New 
Mexico."  Elsewhere,  in  the  same  work,  Hennepin  further 
says  :  "  La  Salle  was  a  person  qualified  for  the  greatest  un- 
dertakings, and  may  be  justly  ranked  amongst  the  most 
famous  travelers  that  ever  were." 

Henri  Joutel,  the  fullest  and  most  reliable  historian  of 
La  Salle's  Texas  expedition,  has  drawn  the  character  of  his 
commander  in  these  measured  words  : 

"  He  had  a  capacity  and  talent  to  make  his  enterprises 
successful ;  his  constancy  and  courage,  and  extraordinary 
knowledge  in  the  arts  and  sciences,  which  rendered  him  fit 
for  any  thing,  together  with  an  indefatigable  habit  of  body, 
which  made  him  surmount  all  difficulties,  would  have  pro- 
cured a  glorious  issue  to  his  undertaking,  had  not  all  these 
excellent  qualities  been  counterbalanced  by  too  haughty  a 
behavior,  which  sometimes  made  him  insupportable,  and 
by  a  rigidness  to  those  under  him,  which  at  last  drew  on 
him  their  implacable  hatred,  and  was  the  occasion  of  his 
death.* 

This  careful  estimate  seems  just  and  impartial,  though 
Joutel  did  not  know  La  Salle  at  his  best,  but  rather  when 
his  constitution  was  broken  by  disease,  and  his  temper 
soured  by  misfortunes.  Moreover,  he  lived  too  near  him  to 
fully  appreciate  the  magnitude  and  significance  of  his  serv- 
ices as  a  pioneer  of  civilization  in  North  America.  From 
the  charge  of  harshness  and  tyranny  toward  his  men,  La 
Salle,  in  a  letter  written  to  a  business  correspondent  some 
five  years  before  his  death,  thus  defends  himself: 

"  The  facility  I  am  said  to  want  is  out  of  place  with  this 
people,  who  are  libertines  for  the  most  part;  and  to  indulge 
them  means  to  tolerate  blasphemy,'  drunkenness,  lewdness, 
and  license,  incompatible  with  any  kind  of  order.  It  will 
not  be  found  that  I  have,  in  any  case  whatever,  treated  any 
man  harshly,  except  for  blasphemies  and  other  such  crimes 
openly  committed.  ...  I  am' a  Christian,  and  do  not 
want  to  bear  the  burden  of  their  crimes." 


Joutel's  Journal  Historique. 


Sis  Character.  173 

Although  proud,  shy,  cold,  and  austere  in  his  general 
deportment,  La  Salle  was  not  incapable  of  inspiring  strong 
attachments  among  those  to  whom  he  gave  his  confidence, 
and  who  had  the  penetration  to  discern  the  lofty  bearing  of 
his  genius.  He  required  every  sacrifice  at  the  hands  of  the 
men  in  his  employ,  but  he  himself  led  the  way  in  every 
difficulty  and  every  danger.  He  was  something  of  an  en- 
thusiast, and  about  his  various  schemes  and  enterprises 
there  was  much  that  appeared  visionary  and  impracticable ; 
yet  such  was  his  persevering  energy  that  he  succeeded  in 
many  things  where  others  would  have  faltered  and  failed, 
and  his  failure  to  found  a  colony  at  the  outlet  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi was  largely  due  to  circumstances  beyond  his  per- 
sonal control. 

In  no  one  particular  was  his  superiority  over  contem- 
porary explorers  more  manifest  than  in  his  intercourse  with 
the  aborigines  of  the  country,  whom  he  every- where  made 
subservient  to  his  designs.  He  was  greatly  respected  by 
the  Indians  throughout  the  Mississippi  Valley.  This  was 
attributable  not  only  to  his  liberal  and  conciliatory  policy 
in  dealing  with  them,  but  to  his  grave  and  taciturn  man- 
ner, which  comported  well  with  their  own  ideas  of  dignity 
and  decorum.  It  is  worthy  of  remark,  in  passing,  that  he 
nearly  always  traveled  with  a  train  of  ecclesiastics,  showing 
a  preference  for  the  Recollets.  They  went  not  merely  as 
missionaries  to  convert  the  heathen,  but  to  assist  him  in  his 
enterprises  and  write  up  his  doings,  and  were  among  his 
most  efficient  and  faithful  coadjutors.  He  was  not  a  pru- 
dent or  successful  business  man;  his  transactions  as  an  In- 
dian trader  and  fur-dealer,  though  on  a  large  scale,  were 
usually  attended  with  loss,  and  he  died  hopelessly  insol- 
vent. His  ambition  was  fame — fame  as  a  discoverer  and 
explorer  of  new  and  unknown  lands.  For  the  gratification 
of  this  passion  he  sacrificed  his  means,  his  comfort,  his 
health,  and  finally  life  itself.  His  plans  were  too  extensive 
and  complex  for  his  resources  or  credit,  and  even  his  un- 
common energy  and  fortitude  could  not  always  cope  with 
the  enmities  and  jealousies  that  were  constantly  arrayed 
against  him.  Nevertheless,  he  stands  in  the  history  of  the 


174  Last  Great  Enterprise  of  La  Salle. 

period  as  the  foremost  pioneer  in  North  America.  More- 
over, he  was  the  first  chartered  owner  and  occupant  of  Illi- 
nois, and  the  first  to  establish  a  European  settlement  on 
her  soil. 

Physically  as  well  as  intellectually,  La  Salle  seemed 
born  to  command.  He  was  of  a  tall  and  martial  figure^ 
and  appears  to  have  inherited  a  vigorous  constitution, 
which,  however,  was  considerably  impaired  by  sickness 
and  hardships  in  his  later  years.  His  picture  represents 
him  with  a  fine  oval  face,  and  a  high  open  forehead.  From 
his  Norman  lineage  he  derived  his  pluck  and  tenacity  of 
purpose,  qualities  that  nearly  allied  him  to  the  ruling  clasa 
of  England.  He  was  never  married,  and  left  no  offspring 
to  perpetuate  his  name  and  fame.  He  held  his  lease  of  life 
by  the  same  fragile  thread  as  the  meanest  camp-follower  in 
his  train.  He  died  a  martyr  to  his  own  ambition  and  the 
glory  of  France.  He  was  one  of  those  great  actors  on  the 
stage  of  our  earlier  continental  history,  about  whom  men 
write  and  converse  while  he  sleeps  the  sleep  that  knows  no 
waking.  It  has  been  felicitously  observed  of  him,  that  "  he 
was  as  brave  as  the  bravest,  as  pure  as  the  purest,  and  as 
unfortunate  as  the  most  unfortunate." 


In  Masson's  "Abridgment  of  Guizot's  History  of  France,"  p.  490r 
is  the  following  condensed  yet  graphic,  recital  of  La  Salle's  achieve- 
ments: "La  Salle,  in  his  intrepid  expeditions,  discovered  the  Ohio  and 
Illinois,  navigated  the  great  lakes,  crossed  (descended)  the  Mississippi, 
which  the  Jesuits  had  been  the  first  to  reach,  and  pushed  on  as  far  as 
Texas.  Constructing  forts  in  the  midst  of  savage  districts,  taking  pos- 
session of  Louisiana  in  the  name  of  Louis  XIV.,  abandoned  by  (some 
of)  his  comrades,  and  losing  the  most  faithful  of  them  by  death,  attacked 
by  savages,  betrayed  by  his  own  men,  thwarted  in  his  prospects  by  his 
enemies,  this  indefatigable  man  fell  at  last  beneath  the  blows  of  a  few 
mutineers  in  1687,  just  as  he  was  trying  to  get  back  to  New  France.  He 
left  the  field  open  after  him  to  innumerable  travelers  (and  adventurers) 
of  every  nation  and  tongue,  who  were  one  day  to  leave  their  mark  on 
those  measureless  tracts.  It  is  the  glory  and  misfortune  of  France  to 
always  lead  the  van  in  the  march  of  civilization,  without  having  the 
wit  to  profit  by  the  discoveries  and  the  sagacious  boldness  of  her  chil- 
dren." 


The  Travelers  Cross  the  Trinity.  175 


CHAPTER   IX. 

1687-1689. 
SURVIVORS    OF   LA    SALLE's    TEXAN   COLONY. 

The  surviving  members  of  La  Salle's  traveling  party  r 
who  were  not  in  sympathy  with  his  murder,  refrained  from 
openly  expressing  their  indignation  through  fear  of  their 
own  lives,  and  uneasily  awaited  the  issue  of  events.  Mean- 
while, Duhaut  and  Liotot  seized  upon  every  thing  in  the 
camp  belonging  to  the  late  commander,  and  arrogated  ta 
themselves  the  command  in  his  stead. 

On  the  20th  of  March,  the  day  following  the  catastro- 
phe, the  combined  party  broke  camp  and  recommenced 
their  journey,  as  if  anxious  to  get  away  from  the  gloomy 
locality.  Impeded  in  their  advance  by  heavy  rains  they 
were  three  days  in  reaching  the  main  stream  of  the  Trinity, 
which  they  crossed  in  a  boat  made  of  raw  hides,  swimming 
their  horses.  Continuing  their  slow  march  through  the 
timbered  valley  to  the  vicinity  of  another  and  smaller 
river,*  the  travelers  halted  and  held  a  council  in  regard  to 
their  future  movements.  Being  short  of  provisions,  it  was 
decided  that  Liotot,  Hiens,  Teissier,  and  Joutel  should  pro- 
ceed to  the  villages  of  the  Cenis  Indians,  about  ten  leagues 
away  to  the  north-east,  and  there  barter  for  a  supply  of  maize 
and  beans.  Joutel  was  thus  assigned  to  the  companionship 
of  three  villains  whom  he  detested,  and  at  the  same  time 
suspected  of  contriving  an  opportunity  to  take  his  life,  be- 
cause of  his  fidelity  to  their  late  commander.  But  having 
no  choice  in  the  matter,  he  dissembled  his  fears  and  set  off 
with  his  sinister  associates.  A  day's  ride  brought  them  to 
the  nearest  Cenis  village,  which  consisted  of  a  scattered 
group  of  large,  grass-thatched  lodges,  resembling  huge  hay 
ricks.  The  Frenchmen  were  received  with  much  ceremony 


*  Probably  an  eastern  arm  of  the  Trinity. 


176  Survivors  of  La  Salle's  Texan  Colony. 

by  the  painted  and  tattooed  elders  of  the  village,  and  were  as- 
signed a  cottage  in  which  to  lodge.  But  these  Indian  hosts, 
while  feeding  their  visitors  by  day,  did  ftot  hesitate  to  pilfer 
from  them  by  night  as  opportunity  offered.  They  had  no 
religion  worth  considering,  and,  in  common  writh  the  sur- 
rounding tribes,  were  more  or  less  addicted  to  cannibalism. 

After  a  few  days  stay  at  the  village,  the  companions  of 
Joutel  returned  to  the  French  camp,  leaving  him  to  con- 
tinue the  traffic  alone.  During  his  sojourn  there  he  met 
with  two  French  sailors  named  Ruter  and  Grollet  (Jacques), 
who  had  forsaken  La  Salle  on  the  occasion  of  his  journey 
to  this  region  in  the  preceding  year,  and  who  were  now 
domesticated  among  the  Cenis.  When  apprised  of  the 
murder  of  his  late  commander,  Ruter  expressed  both  sur- 
prise and  regret. 

Some  days  afterward,  Joutel  was  ordered  to  return 
with  the  provisions  he  had  purchased  to  Duhaut's  camp, 
and  upon  his  arrival  thither  found  a  miserable  state  of  af- 
fairs. The  elder  Cavelier  and  Friar  Douay  had  been  treated 
with  harshness  and  contempt  by  Duhaut  and  Liotot,  and 
were  constrained  to  prepare  their  meals  apart  to  themselves. 
Joutel  now  joined  them,  and  around  their  own  camp-fire 
they  talked  of  nothing  else  but  how  to  escape  from  the  com- 
pany of  the  miscreants  in  which  circumstances  had  placed 
them.  No  other  feasible  expedient  presented  itself  except 
to  continue  their  journey  to  the  Mississippi,  and  thence  to 
the  Illinois  and  Canada,  as  originally  undertaken  by  La 
Salle  himself.  In  carrying  out  this  plan,  the  first  and  prin- 
cipal difficulty  was  to  get  the  consent  of  Duhaut  and  Liotot; 
for  they  had  already  announced  their  intention  to  return  to 
Fort  St.  Louis  on  the  bay,  and  there  build  a  vessel  with 
which  to  sail  .to  the  West  Indies.  The  announcement  of 
this  impracticable  purpose — impracticable  because  their  car- 
penters were  all  dead,  and  they  were  without  suitable  ap- 
pliances and  material  for  the  work — showed  that  those 
desperate  men  had  no  mind  to  peril  their  personal  safety 
by  going  to  Canada.  In  pursuance  of  that  resolution 
Hi  ens  and  three  other  members  of  the  party  were  sent  to 
the  village  of  the  Cenis  to  barter  for  additional  horses. 


Survivors  of  La  Salle's  Texan  Colony.  177 

In  this  critical  posture  of  affairs,  the  elder  Cavelier, 
with  whom  a  sacrifice  of  truth  cost  no  particular  effort, 
opened  negotiations  with  the  Sieur  Duhaut.  The  old  priest 
represented  that  lie  and  his  friends  were  too  much  fatigued 
by  travel  to  undertake  a  journey  back  to  the  fort,  preferring 
to  remain  among  the  Cenis  Indians,  and  requested  a  share 
of  the  goods,  for  which  he  offered  to  give  his  note  of  hand. 
To  this  preposition  Duhaut,  after  consulting  with  his  com- 
panions, unexpectedly  assented,  but  soon  afterward  changed 
his  mind  on  being  told  that  it  was  the  secret  intention  of 
Cavelier  and  party  to  proceed  to  the  Illinois  and  Canada. 
He  then  gave  out  that  he  would  go  with  them  to  execute 
their  design,  which  disconcerted  and  troubled  the  latter. 

Duhaut  and  the  others  appear  to  have  remained  at  the 
same  camp,  east  of  the  Trinity,  through  April  and  until 
the  first  week  in  May,  only  advancing  a  little  nearer  to  the 
river  which  lay  between  them  and  the  village  of  the  Cenis. 
Hiens  and  his  three  French  companions  were  still  at  the 
village,  being  detained  partly  by  the  overflow  in  the  river, 
but  principally  by  the  attractions  of  the  Cenis  women. 
During  his  stay  there  he  heard  of  Duhaut's  new  plan  of 
going  to  find  the  Mississippi,  and  declared  to  those  with  him 
that  he  was  not  of  that  mind,  and  refused  his  consent. 

"After  we  had  been  some  days  longer  in  the  same 
place,"  writes  Joutel,  "  Hiens  arrived  with  the  two  half- 
savage  Frenchmen  (Ruter  and  Grollet),  arid  about  twenty 
natives.  He  went  immediately  to  Duhaut,  and  after  some 
(heated)  discourse,  told  him  he  was  not  for  going  toward 
the  Mississippi,  because  it  would  be  of  dangerous  conse- 
quence for  them,  and  therefore  demanded  his  share  of  the 
effects  he  had  'seized.  Duhaut  refusing  to  comply,  and 
affirming  that  all  the  axes  were  his  own,  Hiens,  who  it  is 
likely  had  laid  the  design  before  to  kill  him,  immediately 
drew  his  pistol  and  fired  it  upon  Duhaut,  who  staggered 
about  four  paces  from  the  place,  and  fell  down  dead.  At 
the  same  time  Ruter,  who  had  been  with  Hiens,  fired  his 
piece  upon  Liotot,  the  surgeon,  and  shot  him  through  with 
three  balls. 
12 


178  The  Assassins  Assassinated. 

"  These  murders  committed  before  us,  put  me  in  a  ter- 
rible consternation ;  for,  believing  the  same  was  designed 
for  me,  I  laid  hold  of  my  firelock  to  defend  myself.  But 
Hiens  cried  out  to  me  to  fear  nothing,  to  lay  down  my 
arms,  and  assured  me  he  had  no  design  against  me ;  but 
that  he  had  revenged  his  master's  death.  He  also  satisfied 
M.  Cavelier  and  Father  Anastase,  who  were  as  much  fright- 
ened as  myself,  declaring  he  meant  them  no  harm,  and  that 
though  he  had  been  in  the  conspiracy,  yet  had  he  been  pres- 
ent at  the  time  when  M.  de  la  Salle  was  killed,  he  would 
not  have  consented,  but  rather  obstructed  it. 

"  Liotot  lived  some  hours  after,  and  had  the  good  for- 
tune to  make  his  confession ;  after  which  the  same  Ruter 
put  him  out  of  his  pain  with  a  pistol  shot.*  We  dug  a  hole 
in  the  earth,  and  buried  him  in  it  with  Duhaut,  doing  them 
more  honor  than  they  had  done  to  M.  de  la  Salle  and  his 
nephew,  Moranget,  whom  they  left  to  be  devoured  by  the 
wild  beasts.  Thus  those  murderers  met  with  what  they 
had  deserved,  dying  the  same  death  they  had  put  others 
to."f 

The  Indian  spectators  looked  with  astonishment  and 
terror  upon  these  brutal  homicides,  which  put  to  shame 
even  their  own  thirst  for  blood.  The  Frenchmen  present, 
however,  excused  the  deed  to  the  savages  by  telling  them 
that  those  two  men  had  been  killed,  "  because  they  had  all 
the  powder  and  ball,  and  would  not  give  any  to  the  rest." 
Jean  L'Archeveque,  who  had  been  entirely  devoted  to  Du- 
haut, was  absent  hunting  at  the  time,  and  Hiens  was  for 
shooting  him  on  his  return  to  camp,  but  was  dissuaded 
therefrom  by  Joutel  and  the  two  priests. 

The  only  excuse  or  apology  Duhaut  and  Liotot  had 
offered  for  their  own  atrocious  crimes,  was  that  they  had 
been  driven  thereto  by  despair  at  their  ill-usage.  If  they 

*  It  is  related  by  Father  Douay,  in  his  account  of  these  murders, 
that  the  flash  of  Euter's  pistol  set  fire  to  Liotot's  hair  and  clothing, 
which  were  burned  on  his  body,  and  that  in  this  torment  he  died.  This 
happened  nearly  two  months  after  the  death  of  La  Salle. 

t  See  Joutel's  Journal  in  "  Historical  Collections  of  Louisiana,"  Part 
I.,  pp.  157,  158. 


Survivors  of  La  Salle's  Texan  Colony.  179 

had  remained  at  home  in  France,  and  not  been  subjected  to 
any  great  temptations,  they  might  have  passed  through  life 
as  respectable  citizens ;  but,  as  it  was  and  is,  their  names 
must  be  consigned  to  merited  execration  and  ignominy. 

These  latter  tragedies  came  like  a  thunderbolt  from  a 
cloudless  sky,  and  cleared  the  way  for  the  escape  of  the  in- 
nocent members  of  the  party.  Prior  to  this,  however,  Hiens 
and  his  associate  outlaws  had  promised  the' chiefs  of  the 
Cenis  to  accompany  them  on  a  foray  against  a  tribe  called 
the  Kanoatinos,  who  dwelt  some  distance  off'  to  the  north- 
west, and  with  whom  the  former  were  at  feud.  To  facili- 
tate this  purpose  the  surviving  Frenchmen  now  decamped 
and  removed  their  head-quarters  to  the  Cenis  village.  The 
two  Caveliers,  Joutel,  Douay,  and  two  others  were  lodged 
in  a  cabin  by  themselves,  where  they  were  watched  by  the 
villagers,  while  Hiens  and  his  six  followers,  armed  and 
mounted,  went  with  the  native  warriors  on  their  raid. 
After  an  absence  of  less  than  a  fortnight,  the  war  party  re- 
turned, bringing  with  them  several  Indian  prisoners,  and  a 
number  of  scalps,  as  trophies  of  their  victory  over  the 
enemy. 

When  the  savage  feasting  and  rejoicing  thereat,  which 
lasted  several  days,  had  come  to  an  end,  M.  Cavelier  and 
Joutel  took  occasion  to  inform  Hiens  of  their  proposed 
journey  to  and  up  the  Mississippi.  The  latter  atfirst  stoutly 
opposed  the  project,  as  he  had  no  thought  of  going  thither 
himself,  but  finally  consented  on  condition  that  Cavelier 
should  give  him  a  writing  certifying  to  his  innocence  of  La 
Salle's  murder,  which  the  priest  did  not  scruple  to  do.  For 
the  rest,  Hiens  treated  his  departing  fellow-travelers  with 
the  liberality  of  a  successful  freebooter,  giving  them  a  fair 
proportion  of  the  booty  he  had  acquired  by  his  recent  vil- 
lanous  crimes.  "Before  our  departure,"  says  Joutel's 
Journal,  "it  was  a  sensible  affliction  to  us  to  see  that  villain 
walk  about  the  camp  in  a  scarlet  coat,  with  gold  galons 
(lace),  which  had  belonged  to  the  late  Monsieur  de  la  Salle, 
and  which  he  had  seized." 

The  escaping  party  was  composed  of  seven  persons, 
viz.:  the  two  Caveliers  (uncle  and  nephew),  Joutel,  Douay, 


180  Journey  of  the  Escaping  Party. 

De  Marie,  Teissier,  and  a  Parisian  youth  named  Barthelemy. 
Teissier  was  an  accomplice  in  the  death  of  both  Moranget 
and  La  Salle,  but  had  received  a  pro  forma  pardon  from  the 
elder  Cavelier.  They  had  six  indifferent  horses,  a  quantity 
of  powder  and  ball,  and  some  axes,  knives,  and  beads,  for 
use  in  barter  with  the  natives  on  the  route.  They  left  the 
Cenis  village  without  regret,  late  in  May,  and  were  attended 
by  three  guides.  Hiens  embraced  them  at  parting,  as  did 
the  other  half-dozen  ruffians  who  stayed  with  him.  The 
general  course  of  the  travelers  was  to  the*  north-east,  in  the 
direction  of  the  Lower  Arkansas,  which  was  more  than 
three  hundred  miles  distant.  After  several  days  travel 
through  an  open  country,  passing  hamlets  and  villages  on 
the  way,  they  reached  the  nation  of  the  Assonis,  or  Nas- 
souis,  dwelling  near  the  river  Neches,  where  they  were 
fairly  well  received.  Here  they  were  detained  by  continued 
rain  until  about  the  13th  of  June,  when  they  again  set 
forward,  with  fresh  guides,  on  their  journey. 

The  travelers  next  approached  the  village  of  a  tribe 
called  by  Joutel  the  Nathosos,  who  inhabited  the  country 
between  the  Sabine  and  Red  River.  The  dusky  dwellers 
in  this  village  had  hitherto  known  the  Europeans  only  by 
report,  and  coming  out  to  meet  their  visitors,  regarded  them 
with  great  curiosity.  Desirous  of  doing  the  Frenchmen 
special  honor,  they  took  them  on  their  backs  and  carried 
them  into  the  village ;  but  Joutel,  being  a  large  and  heavy 
man,  bore  down  his  carrier  so  much  that  two  other  Indians 
had  to  assist  him,  one  on  either  side.  Arrived  at  the  chief's 
cottage,  their  horses  were  unloaded,  and  one  of  the  elders 
of  the  village  proceeded  to  wash  the  faces  of  the  visitors 
with  warm  water  from  an  earthen  vessel.  Then  they  were 
invited  to  mount  a  scaffolding  of  canes,  covered  with  white 
mats,  where  they  sat  in  the  burning  sun  and  listened  to 
several  speeches  of  welcome,  >of  which  they  did  not  under- 
stand a  single  word. 

Taking  leave  of  this  hospitable  people,  our  travelers 
next  came  to  a  village  of  the  Cadodaquis,  where  they  ex- 
perienced a  similar  reception.  Crossing  Red  River  and 
approaching  the  Washita,  they  arrived  at  the  village  of 


Survivors  of  La  Salle's  Texan  Colony.  181 

another  nation,  who  gave  them  a  still  more  oppressive  wel- 
come. As  the  leader  of  the  party  the  elder  Cavelier  be- 
came the  principal  victim  of  the  Indian  attentions.  They 
danced  the  calumet  before  him,  singing  as  loud  as  they  could 
roar,  beat  upon  their  calabashes,  stuck  feathers  in  his  hair, 
and  performed  various  other  antics.  The  old  priest  en- 
dured the  irksome  ceremony  as  long  as  he  well  could,  and 
then,  pretending  that  it  made  him  ill,  he  was  assisted  to 
his  lodge;  but  they  continued  to  sing,  howl,  and  dance  all 
through  the  night.  The  meaning  of  all  this  Indian  cere- 
mony was  that  their  visitors  should  make  them  a  present, 
which  was  accordingly  done  to  their  satisfaction. 

At  length,  after  a  wearisome  journey  of  nearly  two 
months  from  the  Cenis,  during  which  time  they  had  the 
misfortune  to  lose  one  of  their  number  (De  Marie),  who 
was  accidentally  drowned,  the  travelers  drew  near  to  the 
Arkansas  River,  at  a  place  some  fifty  miles  above  its  junc- 
tion with  the  Mississippi.  Conducted  thither  by  their 
native  guides,  they  at  last  stood  upon  the  banks  of  the  Ar- 
kansas, and,  looking  across  to  the  farther  side,  beheld  an 
Indian  village,  and  below  and  near  it  on  a  small  eminence 
was  a  cabin  built  of  cedar  logs,  and  a  tall  wooden  cross, 
evidently  the  work  of  French  hands.  Overwhelmed  with 
emotions  of  gratitude  at  their  deliverance,  they  all  knelt 
down  and,  lifting  up  their  han.ds,  gave  thanks  to  the 
Divine  Goodness  for  having  directed  their  footsteps  to  this 
little  outpost  of  civilization.  Presently,  two  white  men 
emerged  from  the  door  of  the  cabin  and  fired  their  guns  as 
a  salute  to  the  wanderers,  who  answered  it  with  a  volley 
from  their  own.  Then  two  canoes  crossed  from  the  oppo- 
site shore  and  ferried  them  over  to  the  village,  where  they 
were  heartily  greeted  in  their  own  tongue  by  Messrs.  Cou- 
ture and  De  Lauriay,  two  of  six  men  whom  Henri  de  Tonty 
had  stationed  there  during  the  preceding  year.*  The 
whole  distance  from  Fort  St.  Louis  of  Texas,  to  the  Ar- 


*  This  station  was  afterward  known  to  the  French  as  Paste  aux  Ar- 
kansas, and  later,  to  the  Americans,  as  Arkansas  Post.  The  Arkansas 
Indians  had  two  villages  on  this  river,  the  second  one  being  near  its 
mouth. 


182  Tonty's  Trip  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 

kansas,  following  the  route  of  the  traveling  party,  was 
computed  by  Father  Douay  at  two  hundred  and  fifty 
leagues. 

It  may  be  remembered  that  in  the  spring  of  1685, 
by  an  order  of  the  King  of  France,  M.  de  Tonty  had  been 
reinstated  in  command  at  Fort  St.  Louis  of  the  Illinois, 
with  the  title  of  captain  and  governor.  In  the  autumn  of 
that  year,  he  made  a  special  journey  to  Mackinac  to  seek 
intelligence  of  his  absent  chief.  Arrived  thither,  he  learned 
that  a  letter  had  been  received  from  Governor  Denonville, 
then  lately  arrived  from  France,  stating  that  La  Salle 
had  landed  on  the  coast  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  that 
he  had  lost  one  of  his  vessels  there.  Upon  hearing  this 
news,  Tonty  returned  to  the  Illinois,  and  organized  an 
expedition  on  his  own  responsibility,  and  at  his  own  ex- 
pense, to  go  to  La  Salle's  assistance.  Accordingly,  on  the 
16th  of  February,  1686,  he  departed  from  Fort  St.  Louis, 
with  thirty  Frenchmen  and  five  Indians,  in  log  canoes,  and 
descended  the  Illinois  and  the  Mississippi  to  the  Gulf, 
which  he  reached  in  Holy  Week.  Finding  no  traces  of 
the  French  colony  there,  he  sent  some  of  his  canoes  to 
scour  the  coast  for  thirty  leagues  on  either  side  of  the  di- 
verging outlet  of  the  river.  But  all  this  search  was  futile, 
for  La  Salle  was  then  rambling  in  the  distant  wilds  of 
southern  Texas.  Disappointed  yet  not  disheartened  at  his 
failure,  Tonty  wrote  a  letter  to  his  commander,  informing 
him  of  this  trip  in  quest  of  him,  which  he  committed  to 
the  keeping  of  an  Indian  chief  of  the  Quinipissas  tribe,  to 
be  delivered  so  soon  as  an  opportunity  should  offer.  He 
then  returned  with  his  force  up  the  Mississippi  to  the  mouth 
of  the  Arkansas,  which  he  entered  and  ascended  some  dis- 
tance to  a  village  of  that  nation.  Here,  on  lands  which 
had  been  previously  granted  to  him  by  La  Salle,  the  Sieur 
de  Tonty  stationed  six  of  his  men,  who  volunteered  to  re- 
main, and  who  were  to  report  to  him  any  information  they 
might  gather  from  the  natives  or  otherwise  concerning  his 
chief. 

But  to  go  back  to  the  party  of  Cavelier  and  Joutel. 
They  tarried  for  several  days  at  the  French  outpost  on  the 


Survivors  of  La  Salle's  Texan  Colony.  183 

Arkansas,  resting  from  the  fatigues  and  anxieties  of  their 
extraordinary  journey.  As  chief  spokesman  of  the  party, 
the  elder  Cavelier  related  to  M.  Couture  and  De  Launay 
the  history  of  their  long  sea-voyage,  and  subsequent  wan- 
derings and  sufferings  in  the  southern  wilderness,  including 
an  account  of  La  Salle's  dismal  end,  which  drew  tears  from 
their  eyes.  For  various  prudential  reasons,  this  last  bit  of 
information  was  kept  from  the  Arkansas  Indians,  who  held 
him  in  great  respect,  and  impatiently  expected  his  return. 

The  travelers  departed  from  the  house  of  the  French- 
men about  the  28th  of  July,  leaving  behind  them  their 
horses  and  young  Barthelemy,  the  Parisian,  who  afterward 
told  slanderous  stories  about  La  Salle's  alleged  cruelty  to 
his  men.  They  embarked  with  a  number  of  the  natives  in 
a  pirogue  forty  feet  long,  belonging  to  one  of  the  chiefs  of 
the  village,  and  were  accompanied  part  of  the  way  by  M. 
Couture.  Descending  the  Arkansas  to  the  next  village 
(called  Torriman)  of  that  nation,  they  tarried  there  until 
the  following  day,  when  they  went  in  two  canoes  to  cross 
and  ascend  the  Mississippi,  which  had  been  so  long  the  ob- 
ject of  their  search,  and  which  Joutel  terms,  in  his  journal, 
the  "  fatal  river."  After  stopping  to  visit  the  third  village 
of  the  Arkansas,  which  was  seated  on  the  banks  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi, they  thence  proceeded  up  the  river  eight  leagues 
to  Kappa,  the  fourth  and  last  village  of  that  people.  On 
the  2nd  of  August  our  five  travelers  took  leave  of  M.  Cou- 
ture at  the  Kappa  village,  and  re-embarked  in  a  single  canoe 
with  four  Arkansas  guides.  In  their  north-bound  voyage, 
they  found  it  requisite  to  often  cross  the  river,  and  some- 
times to  carry  their  canoe  and  luggage,  on  account  of  the 
rapidity  of  the  current,  and  at  night,  for  greater  safety,  en- 
camped on  some  one  of  the  smaller  islands.  On  the  19th 
they  reached  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio,  to  which  their  In- 
dians made  a  sacrifice  of  some  tobacco  and  buffalo  steaks. 
Leaving  that  behind  them,  and  still  ascending,  they  passed 
the  confluence  of  the  turbid  Missouri  on  the  first  of  Sep- 
tember, and  the  next  day  turned  from  the  "Father  of 
Waters  ".into  the  quiet  channel  of  the  Illinois.  % 

In   navigating  this   central   part   of  the   Mississippi, 


184          The  Escaping  Party  Ascend  the  Mississippi. 

neither  Joutel  nor  Douay  observed  any  thing  very  remark- 
able in  the  painted  rocks  of  the  Piasa,  as  described  by 
Marquette.  "  The  2nd "  (of  September),  writes  Joutel,  "  we 
arrived  at  the  place  where  the  figure  is  of  the  pretended 
monster  spoken  of  by  Father  Marquette.  That  monster 
consists  of  two  scurvy  figures  drawn  in  red,  on  the  flat  side 
of  a  rock,  about  ten  or  twelve  feet  high,  which  wants  very 
much  the  extraordinary  height  that  relation  mentions. 
However,  our  Indians  paid  homage,  by  offering  sacrifice  to 
that  stone."  * 

Father  Douay  saw,  and  briefly  describes  in  his  narra- 
tive, certain  rude  figures  on  another  rock,  some  forty  leagues 
below  the  mouth  of  the  Missouri,  which,  on  Thevenot's  re- 
production of  Marquette's  map,  is  marked  as  the  evil  Mani- 
tou  of  the  Illinois  Indians.  Douay  goes  on  to  state,  that 
"  about  midway  between  the  river  Ouabache  (Ohio)  and  that 
of  the  Massourites,  is  Cape  St.  Anthony ;  it  was  to  this 
place,  and  not  farther,  that  the  Sieur  Joliet  descended  in 
1673."  But  in  the  above  unsupported  and  improbable 
statement,  the  Recollet  father  simply  displays  his  own  ig- 
norance and  jealousy  of  the  prior  discoveries  made  by 
Joliet  and  Marquette;  for  it  is  morally  certain  that  they 
went  a  long  distance  below  the  confluence  of  the  Ohio. 

But  to  return  from  this  digression.  After  entering  the 
Illinois  River,  it  required  ten  days  more  of  hard  rowing  and 
pushing  to  bring  the  travelers  to  the  rock-seated  fort  of 
St.  Louis,  whither  they  arrived  on  the  14th  of  September, 
and  were  once  more  among  friends  and  countrymen.  The 
Sieur  de  Tonty  was  away  in  the  east,  fighting  the  Iroquois ; 
but  his  lieutenant,  Belle  Fontaine,  was  in  charge  of  the 
fort,  and  his  little  garrison  received  the  way-worn  voyagers 
with  a  salvo  of  musketry,  which  was  supplemented  by  the 
whooping  of  the  Indian  occupants  of  the  Rock,  who  ran 
down  to  the  river  to  meet  them.  As  the  season  was  grow- 
ing late,  our  travelers  were  eager  to  press  forward  to  Que- 
bec, in  order  to  take  shipping  there  for  France.  After  a 
few  days  of  repose,  therefore,  they  took  leave  of  Belle  Fon- 


*  JoutePs  Journal  Historique.    See  ante,  Chap.  III.  of  this  work. 


Survivors  of  La  Salle's  Texan  Colony.  185 

taine  and  his  men  (from  whom  they  had  studiously  withheld 
any  knowledge  of  La  Salle's  death),  and  proceeded  on  their 
way  up  the  river  to  Lake  Michigan.  On  arriving  at  the 
mouth  of  Chicago  rivulet,  they  embarked  on  the  waters  of 
the  lake  in  a  canoe,  which  had  been  procured  for  that  pur- 
pose at  the  fort ;  but  being  driven  back  by  stress  of  weather, 
they  abandoned  their  design,  buried  a  part  of  their  effects 
on  the  lake  shore,  and  returned  to  Fort  St.  Louis  to  spend 
the  winter. 

At  the  close  of  the  month  of  October,  Captain  Tonty 
returned  from  the  Seneca  war,  accompanied  by  several  of 
his  French  friends,  and  he  now  listened  with  profound  in- 
terest to  the  long  and  sad  narrative  of  his  travel-worn 
guests  from  the  south-west.  With  the  connivance  of  his 
party,  the  elder  Cavelier  did  not  scruple  to  practice  on 
Tonty  the  same  deceit  he  had  used  with  his  lieutenant. 
He  told  him  that  La  Salle  had  been  with  them  nearly  to 
the  Cenis  villages,  and  that  when  they  parted  from  him  he 
was  in  good  health,  which  was  technically  true  so  far  as  a 
majority  of  the  old  priest's  party  was  concerned.  The 
main  purpose  of  this  studied  deception  was  to  derive  all 
the  pecuniary  advantage  he  could  from  his  character  of 
representative  of  his  brother.  Besides,  both  he  and  his 
associates  were  still  not  without  some  apprehension  from 
the  accomplices  of  La  Salle's  murderers,  should  any  of  them 
return  to  Canada  or  France.  If  the  elder  Cavelier  had 
been  frank  and  candid  with  Tonty,  the  expedition  which 
the  latter  subsequently  undertook  for  the .  relief  of  the 
Texan  colonists  might  have  been  attended  with  better  re- 
sults. Friar  Douay  tells  us  that  the  presence  of  Tonty  made 
their  stay  at  the  fort  much  more  agreeable,  and  speaks  of 
him,  as  "this  brave  gentleman,  always  inseparably  attached 
to  the  interests  of  the  Sieur  de  la  Salle,  whose  lamentable 
fate  we  concealed  from  him,  it  being  our  duty  to  give  the 
first  news  to  the  court."* 

The  elder  Cavelier  carried  a  letter  of  credit  from  La 
Salle — whether  genuine  or  not,  it  were  needless  to  inquire — 

*  Narrative  of  Father  Anastase  Douay,  in  Le  Clercq's  Etablissement 
de.  la  Foi,  vol.  II. 


186  Cavelier's  Deception  of  Tonty. 

requesting  Tonty  to  furnish  him  with  supplies,  and  pay 
him  2,652  livres  in  beaver  skins.  On  the  strength  of  this 
and  his  verbal  representations,  Cavelier  drew  upon  Tonty 
to  the  amount,  it  is  averred,  of  four  thousand  livres  in  furs,* 
besides  a  canoe  and  a  quantity  of  other  goods,  all  of  which 
were  delivered  to  him  on  his  quitting  the  fort,  and  for 
which  in  return  he  gave  his  promissory  note.  The  only 
excuse  for  this  deliberate  deception  and  fraud  was  the  des- 
titution of  the  old  priest  and  his  companions,  and  the 
further  fact  that  he  had  a  claim  against  his  brother's  es- 
tate, which,  however,  he  must  have  known  was  insolvent. 
It  seems  hardly  credible  that  during  all  this  time,  the  Sieur 
de  Tonty  should  not  have  received  a  hint  of,  or  even  sus- 
pected, the  death  of  his  former  commander. 

After  living  upon  Tonty's  generous  hospitality  for  six 
months,  the  Cavelier  party  finally  departed  from  Fort  St. 
Louis  the  20th  of  March,  1688.  Seven  days  of  travel  up 
the  Illinois  River  and  its  northern  fork  brought  them  to  the 
Chicagou,  whence  they  again  embarked  on  Lake  Michigan, 
and,  after  many  perils,  reached  Michilimackinac  on  the  6th 
of  May.f  Here  the  elder  Cavelier  disposed  of  a  portion  of 
his  ill-gotten  furs  to  a  trader,  and  received  in  exchange  an 
order  on  a  Montreal  house.  Being  thus  supplied  with  funds 
for  the  rest  of  the  journey  our  travelers  left  Mackinac  about 
the  5th  of  June,  and  proceeded  by  way  of  northern  Lake 
Huron,  French  River,  Lake  Nipissing,  and  the  Ottawa  River 
to  Montreal.  Here,  after  converting  the  remainder  of  their 
.  furs  into  money,  they  provided  themselves  with  much 


*  Tonty's  Memoir  does  not  make  it  so  much. 

tThe  Baron  de  la  Hontan,  who  was  then  at  Mackinac  with  a  small 
detachment  of  French  soldiers,  in  a  letter  dated  the  26th  of  May,  thus 
speaks  of  Cavelier  and  his  party:  "  M.  Cavelier  arrived  here  May  6th, 
accompanied  by  his  nephew,  Father  Anastase,  the  Recollect,  a  pilot,  one 
of  the  savages,  and  some  few  Frenchmen,  which  made  a  sort  of  party- 
colored  retinue.  These  Frenchmen  were  some  of  those  that  M.  de  la 
Salle  conducted  upon  the  discovery  of  Mississippi.  They  give  out  that 
they  are  sent  to  Canada,  in  order  to  go  to  France,  with  some  dispatches 
from  M.  de  la  Salle  to  the  King.  But  we  suspect  that  he  is  dead,  be- 
cause he  does  not  return  along  with  them." — La  Hontan's  Voyages,  vol. 
1,  p.  87. 


Survivors  of  La  Salle's  Texan  Colony.  187 

needed  clothing  and  other  necessaries,  and  then  went  down 
the  St.  Lawrence  to  Quebec,  whither  they  arrived  the  29th 
of  July.  Taking  passage  on  the  20th  of  August  for  Old 
France,  they  arrived  in  safety  at  Rochelle  on  the  9th  of  Oc- 
tober, 1688,  and  thence  proceeded  to  Rouen.  The  wander- 
ers had  been  absent  from  home  something  over  four  years, 
and  during  that  period  had  performed  one  of  the  most  ad- 
venturous and  remarkable  journeys  on  record. 

It  was  not  until  their  return  to  France,  that  the  gloomy 
secret  of  La  Salle's  tragic  death  was  disclosed.  When  it 
was  told  to  Louis  XIY.,  he  gave  orders  for  the  arrest  of  all 
persons  concerned  in  the  murder  who  might  appear  in  New 
France,  but  no  one  was  ever  arrested.  M.  Joutel  had  hoped 
that  a  royal  ship-of-the-line  would  be  sent  out  for  the  rescue 
of  the  surviving  colonists  on  the  coast  of  Texas ;  yet  this 
was  not  done.  Being  occupied  with  other  and,  to  him, 
weightier  matters,  the  king  left  the  miserable  little  band  to 
their  fate.  In  fact,  it  was  probably  too  late  then  to  have 
saved  them  from  destruction. 

The  priest,  Jean  Cavelier,  made  a  written  report  of 
La  Salle's  expedition  to  Seignelay,  the  Minister  of  Marine 
and  Colonies,  and  also  wrote  a  journal  of  the  sea-voyage  to 
the  Gulf,  which  is  in  print,  but  was  not  brought  down  to  the 
time  of  his  brother's  death.  It  is  stated  that  he  afterward 
inherited  a  large  estate  from  a  relative  in  France,  and  "  died 
rich  and  very  old."  Apart  from  his  natural  prudence  and 
self-command,  he  had  most  of  the  defects  without  any  of  the 
redeeming  and  ennobling  traits  of  La  Salle ;  and  the  cor- 
respondence of  the  latter  shows  that  he  entertained  but 
little  affection  for  this  elder  brother,  who  was  "  always  in- 
terfering with  or  crossing  his  plans." 

"  Joutel,"  writes  Parkman,  "  must  have  been  a  young 
man  at  the  time  of  the  Mississippi  expedition,  for  Charle- 
voix  saw  him  at  Rouen  thirty-five  years  after.  He  speaks 
of  him  in  terms  of  emphatic  praise ;  but  it  must  be  admit- 
ted that  his  connivance  in  the  deception  practiced  upon 
Touty  leaves  a  shade  on  his  character,  as  well  as  on  that  of 
Douay."  Joutel's  Historical  Journal  of  that  expedition  did 
not  appear  in  print  until  the  year  1713.  As  he  was  only 


188         Tonty  Attempts  to  Succor  the  Texan  Colony. 

an  ordinary  scholar,  it  is  fair  to  presume  that  he  had  the 
assistance  of  a  competent  scribe  in  preparing  his  work  for 
publication.  Its  general  accuracy  and  impartiality  are 
unquestioned,  though  in  the  matter  of  dates  it  is  perhaps 
inferior  toDouay's  Narrative.  It  contains  the  best  descrip- 
tion extant  of  the  country  of  Texas  at  that  early  day. 

We  now  return  to  M.  de  Tonty.  In  September,  1688, 
he  was  visited  at  his  fort  in  the  Illinois  by  M.  Couture,* 
and  two  Indians  from  the  Arkansas,  who  danced  the  cal- 
umet. It  was  then,  for  the  first  time,  we  are  told,  that  he 
learned  with  sorrow  and  indignation  of  the  lamentable 
fate  of  his  chief,  and  of  the  deceit  that  had  been  practiced 
upon  him  by  the  elder  Cavelier  and  party.  The  opinion  of 
this  Fidus  Achates  of  M.  de  la  Salle  is  epitomized  in  his 
observation,  that  "  he  was  one  of  the  greatest  men  of  the 
age."  The  leader  whom  he  had  so  long  followed  was,  in- 
deed, beyond  any  human  aid ;  but  the  still  surviving  colo- 
nists, languishing  on  the  distant  shores  of  the  Gulf,  might 
yet  be  saved  from  extermination.  He  therefore  resolved 
upon  an  expedition  for  their  relief,  and  furthermore,  if  it 
were  found  practicable,  to  make^them  the  nucleus  of  a  war 
party  to  cross  the  Rio  del  Norte  into  Mexico.  Tonty's 
means  or  resources  were  utterly  inadequate  to  the  accom- 
plishment of  so  bold  and  difficult  an  undertaking ;  never- 
theless, he  made  the  attempt. 

After  some  little  preparation,  this  impulsive  and  chiv- 
alrous man  set  off  from  his  fortified  rock  early  in  De- 
cember of  that  year  (1688),f  in  a  large  canoe,  with  five 
Frenchmen,  two  Indian  slaves,  and  a  Shawnee  hunter. 
Passing  down  the  Illinois  and  the  Mississippi  to  the  mouth 
of  Red  River,  and  thence  up  the  latter  stream,  he  reached 
the  Natchitoches  on  the  17th  of  the  ensuing  February,  and 
the  Cadodaquis  on  the  28th  of  March.  The  Cadodaquis 
were  allied  with  the  Nachitoches  and  the  Nassoui.  All 


*  Couture  was  a  native  of  Rouen,  and  a  carpenter  by  trade. 

t  Parkman's  "  La  Salle  and  the  Great  West,"  p.  439. 

Touty's  own  Memoir  says  that  he  set  out  on  this  journey  in  Octo- 
ber, 1689  ;  but  as  he  probably  wrote  from  recollection,  his  dates  can  not 
always  be  relied  upon. 


Survivors  of  La  Salle's  Texan  Colony.  189 

three  of  these  nations  dwelt  in  the  Red  River  Valley,  and  all 
spoke  substantially  the  same  language.  Upon  his  arrival 
at  the  Cadodaquis  village,  Tonty  was  told  that  Hiens  and 
his  French  confederates  were  at  a  village  of  the  Naoua- 
diches,  some  eighty  leagues  to  the  south-west.  But  when 
he  was  preparing  to  go  there,  all  of  his  men  refused  to  fol- 
low him,  excepting  one  Frenchman  and  the  Shawnee  In- 
dian. Not  being  able  to  compel  the  attendance  of  the 
others,  he  set  forward  on  the  6th  of  April,  with  the  two 
men  who  were  faithful,  and  five  native  guides.  A  few  days 
afterward,  in  crossing  a  stream,  his  -French  companion  lost 
his  bag  containing  the  most  of  their  powder.  But,  un- 
deterred by  this  accident  he  pressed  on  to  the  ISTaouadiche 
village,  lying  east  of  the  Cenis,  where  the  criminals  were 
said  to  be.  Arrived  thither  on  the  23d,  he  found  no  traces 
of  Hiens  and  his  associates.  When  he  inquired  for  them 
of  the  head  men  of  the  village,  they  told  him  different 
stories,  and  when  he  charged  them  with  having  killed  the 
Frenchmen,  the  women  began  to  cry,  from  which  he  in- 
ferred that  his  charge  was  true.  These  villagers  refused 
Tonty  guides  to  further  continue  his  journey,  although,  as 
he  tells  us,  it  was  only  three  days'  travel  from  thence  to 
where  La  Salle  had  been  murdered.  Owing,  therefore,  to 
his  lack  of  guides,  and  the  shortness  of  his  ammunition,  he 
was  obliged  to  relinquish  his  purpose  of  endeavoring  to 
reach  the  fort  on  Matagorda  Bay.  While  at  this  Texan 
village,  he  seems  to  have  heard  rumors  in  regard  to  the 
breaking  up  and  destruction  of  the  French  colony  on  the 
coast  by  the  Indians. 

In  retracing  their  winding  track,  Tonty  and  his  com- 
panions found  the  country  flooded  by  the  heavy  vernal 
rains,  and  experienced  incredible  hardships  in  threading  the 
Red  River  wilderness.  They  had  to  construct  a  raft  and 
paddle  through  the  water,  sleep  on  logs  laid  one  upon  an- 
other, build  fires  on  the  trunks  of  trees,  and  subsist  on  a 
little  bear  and  dog  meat.  He  says,  in  his  memoir,  that 
he  never  suffered  so  much  in  his  life  as  during  this  journey 
back  to  the  Mississippi,  which  was  reached  on  the  llth  of 
July.  Making  his  way  thence  to  the  village  of  the  Coroas, 


190  Spanish  Expedition  to  Fort  St.  Louis. 

Tonty  stayed  there  several  days  to  recuperate,  after  which 
he  went  up  to  his  post  on  the  Arkansas.  Here  he  fell  sick 
of  a  fever,  brought  on  by  exposure,  which  detained  him  till 
the  llth  of  August.  He  then  resumed  his  river  voyage 
homeward,  and  arrived  at  Fort  St.  Louis,  of  the  Illinois, 
late  in  September,  1689.  Ten  months  were  consumed  in 
this  extraordinary  journey,  which  was  one  of  the  longest 
and  hardest  he  ever  made. 

This  unavailing  attempt  was  the  last  that  was  made 
to  rescue  the  unhappy  colonists  from  the  savage  immensity 
which  shut  them  out  from  home  and  civilization.  Their 
final  extirpation  by -the  Texas  Indians  was  subsequently 
learned  from  the  Spaniards  in  Mexico.  By  priority  of  dis- 
covery and  occupation,  Spain  claimed  all  the  country  sur- 
rounding the  Mexican  Gulf,  and  the  viceroys  of  Mexico 
had  been  active  and  energetic  in  enforcing  this  claim. 
The  capture  of  one  of  La  Salle's  vessels  off  the  coast  of 
St,  Domingo  had  first  made  known  his  designs  to  the 
Spanish  authorities,  and  during  the  succeeding  three  years 
as  many  as  four  expeditions  were  sent  out  from  Vera  Cruz 
to  find  and  destroy  his  colony.  They  scoured  the  entire 
coast,  and  even  found  the  wrecks  of  his  vessels,  but  owing 
to  the  secluded,  inland  position  of  the  French  fort,  it  had 
eluded  their  search.  The  Spaniards  therefore  rested  for  a 
time  in  the  belief  that  the  intruders  upon  their  territory 
had  perished,  when  fresh  advices  from  the  frontier  prov- 
ince of  New  Leon  caused  the  viceroy  to  order  a  renewal 
of  the  search. 

Accordingly,  in  January,  1689,  Don  Alonzo  de  Leon 
started  with  a  strong  body  of  horsemen  from  a  military 
post  in  the  province  of  Quagila  (Coahuila),  and  marched 
northward  over  the  barren  mountains  unlil  he  came  to  the 
Spanish-Mexican  town  of  Calhuila.  He  then  turned  to 
his  right,  and,  crossing  the  Rio  Bravo  del  ISTorte,  entered 
the  territory  of  the  Bahamos  Indians.  Guided  thence  by 
a  French  prisoner  (supposed  to  have  been  a  deserter  from 
La  Salle),  he  traversed  the  country  to  the  north-east, 
crossing  in  turn  the  Nueces,  the  San  Antonia,  and  the 
Guadalupe,  and  at  length  reached  the  Bay  of  St.  Bernard, 


Survivors  of  La  Salle's  Texan  Colony.  191 

called  by  the  Spaniards  Espiritu  Santo.*  Arrived  at  the 
French  fort  of  St.  Louis  on  the  22d  of  April,  the  Spanish 
leader  and  his  cavalcade  proceeded  to  reconnoiter  the 
place.  They  found  the  dead  bodies  of  several  of  the  colo- 
nists, who  had  been  killed  by  blows  or  pierced  by  arrows ; 
also  a  lot  of  old  French  books  (mostly  religious  works) 
scattered  around,  and  a  number  of  iron  cannon  mounted 
upon  navy  gun  carriages;  but  no  living  thing  was  there, 
and  no  explanation  of  the  mystery  was  obtainable  from 
the  stolid  savages  dwelling  on  the  shores  of  the  bay. 
After  an  interval  of  several  days,  however,  there  arrived 
at  the  Spanish  camp  two  strangers,  whose  faces  were 
painted,  and  who  were  otherwise  attired  as  Indians.  They 
were  James  Grollet  and  Jean  L'Archeveque,  the  latter 
having  been  one  of  the  principal  accomplices  in  the  mur- 
der of  La  Salle.  Finding  life  insupportable  among  the 
savages,  these  two  Frenchmen  had  come,  under  pledges 
of  good  treatment,  to  surrender  themselves  to  the  Spanish 
commander.  From  them  was  obtained  about  all  that  is 
definitely  known  in  regard  to  the  melancholy  end  of  the 
occupants  of  the  fort. 

The  neighboring  Indians,  as  we  have  seen,  had  been 
from  the  first  on  ill  terms  with  the  French  colonists ;  and 
it  appears  that  some  three  months  before  a  band  of  the 
savages  had  stealthily  approached  the  fort,  the  inmates  of 
which  had  been  suffering  from  the  small-pox,  to  take 
them  by  surprise.  Fearing  treachery,  the  French  refused 
their  visitors  admittance,  but  received  them  at  a  house 
without  the  palisade,  where  the  savages  made  a  pretense 
of  trade.  Suddenly,  at  a  preconcerted  signal,  the  larger 
part  of  this  band  of  warriors,  who  had  been  in  hiding  un- 
der the  river  bank,  rushed  from  their  cover,  entered 
the  gate,  and  massacred  nearly  all  of  the  French  inmates. 
L'Archeveque  and  Grollet  stated  that  they,  with  some 
others  of  their  companions,  came  hither  from  the  Cenis 
villages  and  buried  fourteen  corpesof  the  slain.  The  four 

*  See  manuscript  map  of  the  route  of  the  Spaniards  in   Margry's 
Collection. 


192  Final  Destruction  of  the  Colony. 

children  of  a  Canadian  named  Talon,  together  with  an 
Italian  and  a  young  Frenchman  named  Eustache  de  Bre- 
men, were  saved  by  some  Indian  women  who  had  been 
domesticated  at  the  fort,  and  who  hurried  them  away, 
carrying  the  children  on  their  backs.  These  young  cap- 
tives were  all  soon  after  surrendered  to  the  Spaniards. 

Conspicuous  among  those  who  are  believed  to  have 
thus  perished  under  the  war  clubs  and  scalping-knives  of 
the  vengeful  savages  were  the  two  friars,  Maxime  le  Clercq 
and  Zenobe  Membre.  And  here  it  may  be  as  well  to  col- 
late the  known  facts  in  the  adventurous  life  of  the  latter, 
who  died  at  about  the  age  of  forty-four.  Agreeably  to  a 
statement  of  Hennepin,  Membre  was  born  at  Bapaume,  a 
small  fortified  town  in  the  south  part  of  Artois,  France, 
about  1645.  His  name  of  Zenobius  was  probably  assumed 
on  entering  the  Recollet  convent  in  Artois.  He  appears 
to  have  been  a  cousin  of  Father  Chretien  le  Clercq,  who 
published  an  abridgment  of  his  letters  and  journals  in 
U  Etablissement  de  la  Foi.  With  this  cousin,  he  was  first 
sent  out  to  Canada  as  a  missionary  in  the  year  1675.  In 
1682,  after  returning  from  the  memorable  expedition  down 
the  Mississippi,  he  was  sent  by  La  Salle  to  lay  the  result 
of  that  expedition  before  the  government  of  France. 
Having  fulfilled  his  mission  at  court,  he  went  to  Bapaume, 
and  there  held  the  position  of  Warden  to  the  Recollets 
until  1684,  when,  at  La  Salle's  request,  he  was  appointed 
superior  of  the  Recollet  missionaries  who  were  to  accom- 
pany his  expedition  by  sea  to  the  Mississippi.  After  the 
stranding  of  the  "Aimable"  at  the  entrance  to  Matagorda 
Bay,  he  came  near  being  4r<>wned  while  passing  that  ves- 
sel in  a  boat,  which  was  driven  by  the  force  of  the  waves 
against  the  wreck  and  dashed  to  pieces.  In  January, 
1687,  when  La  Salle  finally  left  Fort  St.  Louis  of  Texas, 
Membre  was  intending,  as  soon  as  possible,  with  the  aid 
of  Father  Maxime  le  Clercq,  to  establish  a  mission  among 
the  friendly  Cenis  Indians;  but  this  project  was  never 
carried  out. 

Father  Membre  was  not  a  man  of  superior  parts  or 
learning.  His  letters  and  journals  are  often  involved  and 


What  Became  of  Heins  and  Others.  193 

obscure,  yet  they  bear  intrinsic  marks  of  fidelity,  and  show 
him  to  have  been  a  less  prejudiced  observer  of  men  and 
things  than  some  of  his  clerical  companions.  Neither  his 
natal  year,  nor  the  month  nor  day  of  his  martyrdom,  is  defi- 
nitely determined ;  but,  surely,  this  amiable  man  and  de- 
voted missionary  merited  a  better  and  happier  destiny. 

"L'Archeveque  and  Grollet  were  sent  to  Spain,  where, 
in  spite  of  the  pledge  given  them,  they  were  thrown  into 
prison,  with  the  intention  of  sending  them  back  (to  Mex- 
ico) to  work  in  the  mines.  The  Italian  was  imprisoned  at 
Vera  Cruz.  The  fate  of  Bremen  is  unknown.  Pierre  and 
Jean  Baptiste  Talon,  who  were  now  old  enough  to  bear 
arms,  were  enrolled  in  the  Spanish  navy,  and  being  capt- 
ured in  1696  by  a  French  ship  of  war,  regained  their  liberty; 
while  their  younger  brother  and  sister  were  carried  by  the 
viceroy  to  Spain.  With  respect  to  the  ruffian  companions 
of  Heins,  the  conviction  of  Tonty  that  they  had  been  put 
to  death  by  the  Indians  may  have  been  correct ;  but  the 
buccaneer  himself  is  said  to  have  been  killed  by  Ruter,  the 
white  savage.  And  thus,  in  ignominy  and  darkness,  ex- 
pired the  last  embers  of  the  doomed  colony  of  La  Salle."  * 

Here  ends  the  wild,  lurid,  and  most  tragical  story  of 
the  first  Gallic  explorers  and  colonists  of  Texas ;  a  story 
which  exemplifies  the  familiar  adage  that  truth  is  often 
stranger  than  fiction.  Such  was  the  dismal  fate  of  others 
of  the  earlier  European  settlements  in  America,  until  the 
colonists  became  sufficiently  numerous  and  powerful  to 
cope  with  the  ravages  of  disease  and  the  hostility  of  the 
savages. 


*  Parkman's  "  La  Salle  and  the  Great  West,"  p.  445. 
13 


194  Illinois  as  a  Dependency  of  Canada. 


CHAPTER  X. 

1689-1712. 
ILLINOIS    AS    A    DEPENDENCY    OF    CANADA. 

After  La  Salle's  ineffectual  attempt  to  plant  a  colony 
in  the  delta  district  of  the  Mississippi,  it  was  over  twelve 
years  before  the  government  of  France  essayed  another 
'  experiment  in  that  quarter.  Busily  engaged  in  a  great 
war  with  William  of  Orange  and  the  German  princes  for 
European  supremacy,  the  French  monarch  had  neither  the 
time  nor  the  inclination  to  indulge  in  projects  of  distant 
and  expensive  colonization.  During  this  long  interval 
there  was  but  little  immigration  into  the  Mississippi  Valley, 
nor  were  any  steps  taken  by  kingly  authority  for  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  newly-acquired  territory.  Meantime,  how- 
ever, the  Jesuit  missionaries  and  fur- traders  from  Canada 
were  both  active  and  enterprising ;  the  one  in  disseminat- 
ing the  Catholic  faith  among  the  aborigines,  and  the  other 
in  bartering  cheap  goods  and  "fire-water"  for  their  furs 
and  pelts. 

Fort  St.  Louis  continued  for  some  years  to  be  the  seat 
of  French  power  in  the  Illinois,  with  Henri  de  Tonty  as 
commandant  and  governor,  whose  authority  extended  about 
as  far  in  every  direction  as  his  French -Italian  imagination 
chose  to  stretch  it.  In  1690,  or  1691,  the  company  of  Foot, 
in  which  he  had  held  the  rank  of  captain  since  1684,  but 
without  receiving  any  regular  pay,  was  ordered  to  be  dis- 
banded. Being  thus  thrown  out  of  employment  in  the  line 
of  his  profession,  he  made  a  trip  down  the  lakes  to  Quebec, 
and  there  prepared  and  forwarded  to  the  French  Minister, 
Count  de  Pontchartrain,  a  petition  setting  forth  his  mili- 
tary and  other  service  to  his  king  and  country,  and  praying 
that  a  new  command  might  be  assigned  to  him.  The  truth 
of  Tonty's  statements  was  certified  to  by  the  then  aged 


Decline  of  Fort  St.  Louis.  195 

Count  Frontenac,  who  had  been  reinstated  in  the  governor- 
ship of  Canada  in  1689,  and  who  remained  in  office  until 
his  death  at  Quebec.  In  answer  apparently  to  this  peti- 
tion, the  proprietorship  of  Fort  St.  Louis  of  the  Illinois 
was  granted  to  Tonty,  conjointly  with  La  Forrest,  another 
former  lieutenant  of  La  Salle.  Here  they  carried  on  for 
some  years  a  limited  trade  in  furs  with  the  Indians.  In 
169$  a  royal  decree  was  issued  against  the  coureurs  des  bois, 
who  had  long  been  a  source  of  disquietude  to  the  Canadian 
government ;  but  an  express  provision  was  made  in  the 
decree  in  favor  of  Messrs.  Tonty  and  Forrest,  who  were  em- 
powered to  send  up  the  country,  annually,  two  canoes  laden 
with  goods,  with  twelve  men,  for  the  maintenance  of  the 
fort.  Again,  in  170^  a  provincial  order  was  made  to  the  :•? 
effect  that  La  Forrest  should  henceforth  reside  in  Canada, 
and  Tonty  on  the  Mississippi,  and  the  establishment  on  the 
Illinois  was  discontinued.  Some  two  years  prior  to  this, 
however,  as  the  sequel  will  more  fully  disclose,  Tonty  joined 
D'Iberville's  colony  in  Lower  Louisiana.  He  thus  finally 
passed  from  the  country  of  the  Illinois,  where  he  had  been 
a  conspicuous  and  honorable  figure  for  twenty  years,  and 
had  achieved  for  himself  a  name  which  will  outlast  the  ef- 
facing fingers  of  time. 

The  decline  of  Fort  St.  Louis  was  partly  due  to  the 
dispersion  of  the  surrounding  native  tribes,  but  chiefly, 
perhaps,  to  a  change  in  the  main  route  of  French  travel 
and  transit  from  the  great  lakes  to  the  Mississippi ;  the  voy- 
ageurs  and  fur-traders  having  found  the  portage  shorter 
and  less  difficult  by  way  of  the  Fox  and  Wisconsin  Rivers, 
than  the  Illinois.  In  1718,  the  fort  was  temporarily  re- 
occupied  by  some  French  traders,  but,  three  years  later,  it 
was  again  deserted ;  and  when  Charlevoix  passed  by  the 
Rock  in  1721,  he  saw  only  the  remains  of  its  palisade  and 
rude  buildings. 

The  founding  of  Kaskaskia  has  been  variously  ascribed 
to  members  of  La  Salle's  party,  on  returning  from  their 
exploring  expedition  to  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi  in 
1682 ;  to  Father  Jacques  Gravier  about  1685 ;  to  Henri 
de  Tonty  in  1686,  and  to  others  still,  explorers  or  mission- 


196  Illinois  as  a  Dependency  of  Canada. 

aries,  at  different  dates,  in  the  last  quarter  of  the  seven- 
teenth century.  But  the  Kaskaskia  of  our  time  is  not  so 
old  as  was  formerly  supposed. 

The  original  site  of  this  Indian  settlement  has  been 
identified  with  that  of  the  tribe  of  the  same  name,  first  found 
on  the  banks  of  the  Illinois  River,  at  or  near  the  wide  bot- 
tom lying  immediately  to  the  south  of  the  modern  town  of 
Utica,  in  La  Salle  county.  It  will  be  remembered  that 
when  Father  Marquette  and  his  companions  returned  from 
their  voyage  of  discovery  down  the  Mississippi  (in  1673), 
they  stopped  at  a  village  of  the  Kaskaskias,*  on  the  Up- 
per Illinois,  which  then  comprised  seventy-four  lodges. 
Being  very  hospitably  entertained  by  -the  villagers,  the 
good  priest,  at  their  request,  returned  thither  in  April, 
1675,  and  began  a  mission  among  them  called  "  The  Im- 
maculate Conception  of  the  Blessed  Virgin."  After  the 
departure  and  death  of  Marquette,  as  already  related, 
Father  Claude  Allouez  was  appointed  to  succeed  him  by 
the  superior  general  of  the  Jesuits  at  Quebec. 

Father  Allouez  came  to  America  from  Toulouse, 
France,  in  July,  1658,  and  had  been  actively  and  zealously 
employed,  with  other  priests,  in  planting  Jesuit  missions 
among  the  Indians  of  the  upper  lake  region.  Having  es- 
tablished the  mission  on  Green  Bay,  in  1669,  he  was  as- 
signed to  its  charge,  including  the  neighboring  tribes. 
During  October,  1676,  he  set  out  from  that  station,  with  a 
few  French  attendants,  on  a  voyage  to  his  new  mission  at 
the  Illinois,  and  on  the  way  skirted  the  western  and 
southern  shores  of  Lake  Michigan.  In  his  narrative  of 
this  roundabout  voyage  (printed  in  Shea's  "  Discovery  and 
Exploration  of  the  Mississippi"),  the  Father  says: 

"  In  spite  of  all  our  efforts  to  hasten-  on,  it  was  the 
27th  of  April  (1677),  before  I  could  reach  Kachkachkia, 
a  large  Illinois  town.  I  immediately  entered  the  cabin 
where  Father  Marquette  had  lodged,  and  the  sachems,  with 


*On  Thevenot's  reproduction  of  Father  Marquette's  map,  the  name 
of  this  tribe  is  printed  Cachouachouia,  but  on  his  original  map,  as  pre- 
served at  St.  Mary's  College,  Montreal,  it  is  written  KachkasUa. 


The  Jesuit  Mission  at  the  Illinois,  197 

all  the  people,  being  assembled,  I  told  them  the  object  of 
my  coming  among  them,  namely,  to  preach  the  true,  living 
and  immortal  God,  and  his  son  Jesus  Christ.  They  listened 
very  attentively  to  my  whole  discourse,  and  thanked  me 
for  the  trouble  I  took  for  their  salvation. 

"  I  found  this  village  much  increased  since  last  year 
(meaning  probably  1675).  It  was  before  composed  of  only 
one  nation,  the  Kachkachkia.  There  are  now  eight ;  the 
first  having  called  the  others,  who  dwelt  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  the  Mississippi.  You  can  (readily)  form  an  idea 
of  the  number  of  Indians  who  compose  this  town ;  they 
are  lodged  in  three  hundred  and  fifty-one  cabins,  easily 
counted.  They  are  mostly  ranged  on  the  banks  of  the 
river.  The  place  which  they  have  selected  for  their  abode 
is  situate  at  40°  42' ;  it  has  on  one  side  a  prairie  of  vast  ex- 
tent, and  on  the  other  an  expanse  of  marsh,  which  makes  the 
air  unhealthy,  and  often  loaded  with  mists ;  this  causes  much 
sickness  and  frequent  thunder.  They,  however,  like  this 
post,  because  from  it  they  can  easily  discern  their  enemies." 

This  description  corresponds  in  the  main  with  that  of 
Father  Hennepin,*  who  says  that  the  village  was  "situated 
at  forty  degrees  of  latitude,  in  a  somewhat  marshy  plain, 
on  the  right  bank  of  the  river,"  which  was  "as  broad  as 
the  Seine  before  Paris."  But  some  allowance  must  be 
made  for  the  old  latitude,  which  was  too  low,  and,  with  the 
French  explorers,  was  never  more  than  approximately  cor- 
rect. That  this  Illinois  village  stood  in  the  vicinity  of 
bluff's  or  high  ground  is  evidenced  by  the  remark  of  Al- 

*  The  population  of  this  great  village  had  still  further  increased  in  1680, 
when  Heunepin  computed  the  number  of  lodges  at  four  hundred  and 
sixty,  with  several  fires  to  each  lodge.  The  Recollet  Father  Membre, 
writing  in  the  same-year,  fixes  the  number  of  cabins  at  between  four  and 
five  hundred,  and  estimates  the  entire  Indian  population  at  from  seven  to 
eight  thousand.  This  large  estimate  probably  included  the  "  Cascaskias," 
whose  village  he  locates  south-west  of  the  "  bottom  of  Lake  Dauphin 
(Michigan),  at  about  latitude  41°  north."  In  Margry's  publication  (vol. 
II.,  pp.  128, 175),  as  cited  by  Shea,  we  are  also  told  that  the  village  of 
the  Kaskaskia  proper,  was  two  leagues  below  the  mouth  of  the  Peste- 
gouki,  or  Fox  (of  Illinois),  and  six  leagues  below  the  confluence  of  the 
Checagou  (Des  Plaines)  and  Teakiki,  and  that  both  it  and  the  great  vil- 
age  were  destroyed  by  the  Iroquois. 


198  Illinois  as  a  Dependency  of  Canada. 

louez,  that,  "  from  it  they  could  easily,  discern  their  ene- 
mies." 

In  his  journal,  just  quoted,  Father  Allouez  relates 
that  he  relaid  the  foundation  of  the  Illinois  mission  by  the 
baptism  of  thirty-five  children,  and  a  sick  adult,  who  soon 
after  died.  He  further  states  that  on  the  3d  of  May,  1677, 
the  anniversary  of  the  Feast  of  the  Holy  Cross,  he  erected 
in  the  village  a  cross  twenty-five  feet  high,  and  chanted  the 
Vexilla  in  the  presence  of  "  a  great  number  of  the  Illinois 
of  all  tribes."  In  1679  he  revisited  this  mission,  and  re- 
mained until  the  approach  of  La  Salle's  expedition  of  that 
year,  when  he  withdrew  to  the  north.  In  1684  he  again 
repaired  to  the  Illinois,  accompanied  by  M.  Durantaye,  who 
then  commanded  at  Mackinac.  He  was  there  sick  in 
1687,  when  the  Cavelier-Joutel  party  reached  Fort  St. 
Louis  from  Texas,  but  left  shortly  after,  on  hearing  that 
La  Salle  was  still  alive.  Although  chiefly  a  missionary  to 
the  Miamis,  Allouez  still  clung  to  his  Illinois  mission, 
which  he  probably  visited  once  more  in  1689.  He  died  at 
Fort  Miami,  in  1690.  He  is  described  as  the  ablest  of  all 
the  Jesuit  Fathers  sent  to  the  Illinois.  A  man  of  cold  yet 
persevering  temper,  he<  seems  to  have  ruled  his  extensive 
charge  principally  by  the  sheer  force  of  intellect. 

The  immediate  successor  of  Father  Allouez,  in  the 
Illinois  mission,  was  Sebastian  Rasles,*  who  embarked 
in  a  canoe  at  Quebec  in  August,  1691,  and  completed  his 
lengthened  voyage  in  the  spring  of  1692.  After  laboring 
with  the  Illinois  for  a  year  or  more,  he  was  recall eatojiis 
original  charge  among  the  Abenakis  on  the  KennebJft,  in 
Maine.  Here,  after  long  years  of  laborious  service,  he  was 
barbarously  slain  by  a  party  of  New  England  soldiers  in 
August,  1724. 

Father  Jacques  Gravier,  who  had  visited  the  Illinois 
mission  as  early  as  1687,  received  it  from  Father  Rasles. 
With  the  permission  of  Captain  de  Tonty,  he  erected  a 
chapel  within  the  palisade  of  Fort  St.  Louis,  which  over- 
looked the  Indian  village  across  the  river.  His  relation  of 


*  Otherwise  written  Sebastien  Rasle,  or  Rale. 


The  Jesuit  Mission  at  the  Illinois.  199 

occurrences  at  the  "  Mission  of  the  Immaculate  Conception" 
of  the  Illinois,  from  March  20,  1693,  to  February  15,  1694, 
presents  an  interesting  view  of  his  toils  and  trials  with 
these  Indians.  He  remained  in  general  charge  of  the  mis- 
sion until  1697,  when  he  was  recalled  to  his  former  station 
at  Mackinac.  In  1700,  he  made  a  canoe  voyage,  by  way  of 
the  Illinois  and  Mississippi,  to  the  French  establishment  at 
Biloxi.  Remaining  there  some  time,  he  returned  to  the 
Illinois  and  resumed  his  labors  among  the  Peorias.  Here, 
in  an  assault  upon  him,  instigated  by  the  medicine-men  of 
the  tribe,  he  received  a  serious  wound,  from  the  effects  of 
which  he  subsequently  died  at  the  Mobile,  about  the  year 
1708. 

Father  Gravier  was  among  the  first  of  the  Jesuit  mis- 
sionaries to  investigate  the  principles  of  the  Illinois  lan- 
guage, and  to  reduce  them  to  grammatical  rules.  He  was 
an  earnest,  able,  and  faithful  missionary  priest. 

Gravier  was  succeeded  in  1697  by  the  Fathers  Julian 
Binneteau  and  Jacques  (or  Francois)  Pi  net,  the -latter  of 
whom  went  to  labor  among  the  Tamaroas.  Of  Binneteau 
it  is  recorded  by  Bancroft,  that,  having  followed  the  Illinois 
in  one  of  their  annual  hunts  on  the  prairies  bordering  the 
Mississippi,  he  was  there  seized  with  a  mortal  fever,  "  and 
his  bones  were  left  to  bleach  on  the  wilderness  range  of 
the  buffalo."  His  death  occurred  in  December,  1699. 

In  1698,  came  Gabriel  Marest,  or  Maret,  who,  four 
years  before,  had  accompanied  D'Iberville  on  a  voyage  to 
Hudson's  Bay,  and  had  chanted  aves  to  the  benighted  Es- 
quimaux on  its  frozen  shores.  Father  Marest  was  espec- 
ially associated  with  the  Kaskaskias,  whose  language  he 
easily  mastered,  and  in  which  he  compiled  a  catechism. 
It  was  under  his  immediate  guidance,  in  the  year  1700,  that 
the  mission  to  the  Kaskaskias  was  removed  from  the  Illi- 
nois River  to  the  Mississippi.  The  subjoined  account  of 
the  transfer  and  migration  of  the  tribe  is  extracted  from  an 
exhaustive  article  upon  the  subject  by  Hon.  E.  G.  Mason, 
of  Chicago,  printed  in  the  "  Magazine  of  American  His- 
tory," for  March,  1881  (Vol.  VI): 

"But  the  evidence,"  says  Mr.  Mason,  "that  this  mis- 


200  Illinois  as  a  Dependency  of  Canada. 

sion  remained  upon  the  Illinois  River  until  the  year  1700, 
and  that  there  was  no  settlement  before  that  time  upon  the 
site  of  the  Kaskaskia  we  now  know,  appears  to  be  well 
nigh  conclusive.  A  letter  written  to  the  Bishop  of  Quebec 
by  John  Francis  Buisson  de  St.  Cosme,  a  missionary  priest, 
describes  the  journey  of  his  party  from  Michillimackinac 
to  the  mouth  of  the  Arkansas,  by  the  Illinois  and  Missis- 
sippi Rivers,  in  the  year  1699.  They  stayed  at  the  house 
of  the  Jesuit  Fathers  at  Chicago,  and  set  out  from  there 
about  November  1st,  on  what  one  of  their  predecessors 
calls  the  divine  *  river,  named  by  the  Indians  Checagou, 
and  made  the  portage  to  the  river  of  the  Illinois.  Passing 
the  Illinois  village  before  referred  to,  they  learned  that 
most  of  the  Indians  had  gone  to  Peoria  Lake  to  hunt. 
Arriving  there,  they  met  the  Fathers  Pinet  and  Marest, 
with  their  flock,  of  which  St.  Cosme  gives  a  good  account, 
and  he  speaks  of  their  work  as  the  Illinois  mission. 

"The  party  journeyed  onward  under  the  guidance  of 
La  Salle's  trusty  lieutenant,  Tonti.  While  on  the  Illinois 
River,  certain  Indians  attempted  to  prevent  their  going  to 
the  Mississippi,  and  intimated  that  they  would  be  killed  if 
they  did  so.  Tonti  replied  that  he  did  not  fear  men  ;  that 
they  had  seen  him  meet  the  Iroquois,  and  knew  that  he 
could  kill  men  ;  and  the  Indians  offered  no  farther  opposi- 
tion. They  reached  the  Mississippi  the  6th  of  December, 
1699,  and  the  next  day  reached  the  village  of  the  Tamarois, 
who  had  never  seen  any  *  black  gown,'  except  for  a  few 
days,  when  the  Reverend  Father  Gravier  paid  them  a  visit. 
A  week  later,  they  ascended  a  rock  on  the  right,  going 
down  the  river,  and  erected  a  beautiful  cross,  which  their 
escort  saluted  with  a  volley  of  musketry,  and  St.  Cosme 
prayed  that  God  might  grant  that  the  cross,  which  had 
never  been  known  in  those  regions,  might  triumph  there. 
From  the  context  of  .this  letter,  it  is  evident  that  this  cere- 
mony took  place  not  far  below  the  site  of  the  present  Kas- 
kaskia, which  St.  Cosme  must  have  passed  to  reach  this 

*  The  term  divine  was  applied  to  the  river  Des  Plaines,  which  was  va- 
riously called  Checagou,  Chekagou,  Chicagou  and  Chigagou,  by  the  early 
explorers. 


Transfer  of  the  Kaskaskia  Mission.  201 

rock,  but  he  makes  no  mention  of  such  a  village.  Further- 
more, within  fifteen  miles  or  so  of  Kaskaskia,  there  is  a 
rocky  bluff  on  the  Mississippi  side  of  the  river,  then  known 
as  the  Cape  of  the  Five  men,  or  Cap  Cinq  Hommes.  This 
is  doubtless  a  corruption  of  the  name  of  the  good  Father 
St.  Cosme,  as  appears  from  a  map  made  a  little  more  than 
one  hundred  years  ago,  which  gives  both  names,  Cinq 
Hommes  and  St.  Cosme,  to  this  very  bluff.  It  probably  is 
the  identical  one  he  ascended,  and  he  could  not  have  spoken 
of  the  cross  as  unknown  in  those  regions,  had  there  been 
any  settlement  so  near  the  spot  as  the  Kaskaskia  we  now 
know.  Tonti,  who  was  the  leader  of  this  party,  is  thought 
by  some  to  have  founded  Kaskaskia  in  1686.  Nobler 
founder  could  no  town  have  had  than  this  faithful  and  fear- 
less soldier,  but  the  facts  just  narrated  make  such  a  theory 
impossible. 

"Again  in  the  early  part  of  the  year  1700,  a  bold  voy- 
ager, Le  Sueur  (on  his  way  to  the  copper  mines  in  the  Sioux 
country),  whose  journal  is  in  print,  pushed  up  the  Missis- 
sippi from  its  mouth,  where  D'Iberville  had  just  planted  the 
banner  of  France,  and  passed  the  site  of  Kaskaskia  without 
notice  of  such  a  place.  He  speaks  of  the  village  of  the  Tam- 
arois,  where  by  this  time,  St.  Cosme  had  taken  up  his  abode 
on  his  return  from  the  south.*  About  July  15th,  going 
northward,  Le  Sueur  arrived  at  the  mouth  of  the  Illinois, 
and  there  met  three  Canadian  voyageurs  coming  to  join  his 
party,  and  received  by  them  a  letter  from  the  Jesuit  Marest, 

*  It  is  doubtful  if  Father  St.  Cosme  ever  returned  from  the  South  as 
above  stated,  unless  for  a  brief  season.  He  was  born  in  France  about 
the  year  1658,  and  ordained  a  Jesuit  priest  in  1683.  We  next  find  him 
engaged  as  a  missionary  in  Canada,  from  whence,  in  the  autumn  of 
1699,  he  was  sent  to  establish  a  mission  among  the  Natchez  Indians  on 
the  Lower  Mississippi.  Arrived  thither,  he  soon  gained  the  confidence 
of  the  Sun  Chief  and  the  esteem  of  his  nation,  but  did  not  succeed  very 
well  in  converting  those  sun-worshipers  to  the  Koman  Catholic  faith. 
In  1707,  being  obliged  to  make  a  journey  to  Mobile,  St.  Cosme  embarked 
in  a  canoe  with  three  other  Frenchmen,  and  while  sailing  down  the 
river,  they  were  set  upon  and  killed  by  a  band  of  the  Chetimacha  In- 
dians. The  Natchez,  it  is  said,  avenged  his  death  by  the  slaughter  of 
a  great  part  of  the  offending  tribe.— See  Appleton's  Encyclo.  of  Amer. 
Biog.,  vol.  5,  p.  369. 


202  Illinois  as  a  Dependence  of  Canada. 

dated  July  10, 1700,  at  the  *  Mission  of  the  Immaculate  Con- 
ception of  the  Blessed  Virgin  at  the  Illinois.'  The  letter  of 
St.  Cosme  and  the  journal  of  Le  Sueur  seem  to  show  clearly 
enough  that  down  to  the  middle  of  the  year  1700,  the  pres- 
ent Kaskaskia  had  not  been  settled,  and  that  the  mission 
was  still  on  the  Illinois  River. 

"And,  lastly,  we  have  the  journal  of  the  voyage  of 
Father  James  Gravier,  in  1700,*  from  the  country  of  the 
Illinois  to  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi ;  from  which  we 
learn  that  he  returned  from  Michilimackinac,  and  set  out 
from  Chicago  on  the  8th  of  September,  1700.  He  says  he 
arrived  too  late  at  the  Illinois,  of  whom  Father  Marest  had 
charge,  to  prevent  the  transmigration  of  the  village  of  the 
Kaskaskias,  which  was  too  precipitately  made,  on  vague 
news  of  the  •  establishment  on  the  Mississippi,  evidently  re- 
ferring to  the  landing  of  D'Iberville  the  year  before.  He 
did  not  believe  that  the  Kaskaskias,  whom  Marest  accom- 
panied, would  have  separated  from  the  Peorias  and  other 
Illinois,  had  he  arrived  sooner,  and  he  obtained  a  promise 
from  the  Peorias  to  await  his  return  from  the  Mississippi. 
After  having  marched  four  days  with  the  Kaskaskias,  Gra- 
vier went  forward  with  Marest,  whom  he  left  sick  at  the 
Tamarois  village,  and  departed  from  there  October  9,  1700, 
to  go  to  the  lower  part  of  the  Mississippi,  accompanied 
only  by  some  Frenchmen.  The  Indians,  with  Marest,  we 
may  presume,  halted  between  the  Kaskaskia  and  Missis- 
sippi Rivers,  where  we  soon  after  find  them ;  and  thus 
doubtless  was  accomplished  the  transfer  of  the  mission  to 
its  final  location.  The  eagerness  of  the  Illinois  tribes  to  be 
in  closer  communication  with  the  French  was  probably  in- 
tensified by  their  desire  to  escape  any  further  assaults  from 
their  dreaded  enemies,  and  to  rear  their  wigwams  where 
they  would  never  hear  the  war-cry  of  the  Iroquois.  Both 
motives  would  operate  more  powerfully  with  the  Kaskas- 
kias than  with  any  others,  because  they  had  been  longer 

*  Relation,  ou  Journal  du  Voyage  du  R.  P.  Jacques  Gravier,  de  la  Com- 
pagnie  de  Jesus,  en  1700,  depuis  le  pays  de  Illinois  jusqu1  a  L'  embouchure  des 
Mississippi,  p.  68.  Cramoisy  Series  of  Relations,  N.  Y.,  1859. 


Transfer  of  the  Kaskaskia  Mission.  203 

under  the  influence  of  the  French,  and  because,  in  their  old 
location,  they  were  the  first  to  receive  the  onslaughts  of  the 
relentless  foemen  of  the  Illinois.  Hence  they  set  out  to  go 
to  the  Lower  Mississippi,  but  Gravier's  influence,  and  per- 
haps Marest's  illness  as  well,  led  them  to  pause  at  the  first 
suitable  resting-place.  And  when  we  consider  that,  a  few 
years  later,  this  same  Marest,  who  accompanied  these  In- 
dians on  their  migration,  was  stationed  at  the  present  Kas- 
kaskia, in  charge  of  the  Mission  of  the  Immaculate  Con- 
ception, as  appears  from  his  letters ;  that  he  died  and  was 
buried  there,  as  is  shown  by  the  parish  records,  and  that 
we  hear  nothing  further  of  a  mission  of  this  name  on  the 
Illinois  River,  we  may  reasonably  conclude  that  the  Kas- 
kaskia of  our  time  should  date  its  origin  from  the  fall  of 
the  year  1700,  and  should  honor  James  Gravier  and  Gabriel 
Marest  as  its  founders." 

Shortly  after  the  transfer  of  the  mission  had  been  ef- 
fected, the  site  of  the  new  settlement  was  fixed  on  the  right 
bank  of  the  Kaskaskia  or  Okaw  River,  six  miles  above  its 
confluence  with  the  Mississippi,  and  nearly  two  miles  east 
of  the  latter  river.  It  is  not  improbable  that  an  Indian 
settlement  had  previously  existed  here,  though  this  is  a 
matter  of  conjecture.  The  village  was  christened  by  the 
missionaries  "Le  Village  d'  Immaculee  Conception  de  Cas- 
casquias ;"  but  no  regularity  of  design  was  observed  by  its 
founders,  nor  was  any  attempt  made  to  profit  by  the  natural 
advantages  of  its  position. 

At  that  pristine  period,  the  scenery  about  Kaskaskia 
was  well  calculated  to  attract  and  please  the  eye  of  such  of 
the  French  missionaries  as  had  a  taste  for  the  beautiful  in 
nature.  "  The  velvet  verdure  of  the  plain,  the  glassy  sur- 
face of  the  idle  river,  the  lofty  hill*  (on  the  east),  with  its 
stately  forest,  the  air  scented  with  the  fragrance  of  its  wild 
flowers,  the  little  springs  gushing  from  its  side  in  sparkling 
beauty,  all  reposing  in  the  sleep  of  nature,  with  their  virgin 


*  The  river  at  Kaskaskia  was  three  hundred  and  fifty  feet  wide,  and 
the  bluffs  opposite  the  town  rise  to  the  height  of  about  two  hundred 
feet. 


204  Illinois  as  a  Dependency  of  Canada. 

freshness  upon  them, — there  was  a  landscape  to  charm  her 
most  capricious  lover."  * 

For  the  first  few  years  of  her  existence,  Kaskaskia  is 
little  noticed  in  contemporaneous  records,  except  as  a  mis- 
sion station.  The  early  history  of  the  place  is  mostly  drawn 
from  the  parish  records,  and  the  letters  and  journals  of  the 
missionary  priests.  Some  of  these  records  are  in  the  cus- 
tody of  the  priest  of  the  parish,  and  others  are  in  the  keep- 
ing of  the  bishop  of  the  diocese.  The  oldest  record  of  the 
church  at  Kaskaskia  is  the  "  Register  of  Baptisms  of  the 
Mission  of  the  Illinois,  of  the  title  of  the  Immaculate  Con- 
ception of  the  Blessed  Virgin."  The  first  entry  in  it,  ac- 
cording to  Breese,  bears  date  March  20,  1695.  Retaining 
the  French  spelling  of  the  names,  it  reads  as  follows : 

"  In  the  year  1695,  March  20th,  I,  Jacques  Gravier,  of 
the  Society  of  Jesus,  baptized  Pierre  Aco,  newly -born  of  P. 
Michael  Aco.  Godfather  was  De  Hautchy,  godmother 
Maria  Aramipinchicoue ;  Maria  Joanna,  grandmother  of  the 
child."f 

This  entry  is  claimed  to  be  a  copy  of  the  original  rec- 
ord, which  was  made  before  the  removal  of  the  mission 
from  the  Upper  Illinois  River.  The  register  was  continued 
until  June  1719,  when  the  mission  of  Kaskaskia  was 
changed  into  a  parish.  A  new  baptismal  register  was  then 
opened,  which  bears  this  French  title :  "  Registre  des  Sap- 
terns  faits  dans  L'Eglisse  de  la  Mission  et  Paroisse  de  la  Con- 
ception de  Notre  Dame,  commence  le  18  Juin,  1719." 

Marriage  and  burial  registers  were  likewise  kept  from 
quite  an  early  date,  and  were  continued  down,  with  varying 
regularity,  until  toward  the  middle  of  the  present  century. 
On  these  venerable  records  appear  the  signatures  of  many 
men  of  note  and  influence  in  the  early  French  history  of 
Illinois. 

In  1707,  Father  Marest  was  joined  at  Kaskaskia  by 


*Breese's  Early  Hist,  of  111.,  p.  153. 

T  It  is  affirmed  that  Michael  Aco's  wife  was  the  daughter  of  a  Kas- 
kaskia chief,  and  that  he  was  the  identical  Ako,  or  Accault,  who  accom- 
panied Friar  Hennepin  in  his  voyage  of  exploration  up  the  Mississippi 
in  1680. 


Early  History  of  the  Present  Kaskaskia.  205 

Father  Jean  Mermet,  who  had  previously  attempted  a  mis- 
sion among  the  Mascoutins  and  others  on  the  Lower  Ohio, 
and  had  also  labored  at  the  great  village  of  the  Illinois. 
Mr.  Bancroft,  in  the  third  volume  of  his  History  of  the 
United  States,  gives  us  the  following  distinct  picture  of 
Father  Mermet's  labors  and  success  at  Kaskaskia : 

"  The  gentle  virtues  and  fervid  eloquence  of  Mermet 
made  him  the  soul  of  the  mission  of  Kaskaskia.  At  early 
dawn  his  pupils  came  to  church,  dressed  neatly  and  mod- 
estly, each  in  a  deerskin,  or  a  robe  sewn  together  from  sev- 
eral skins.  After  receiving  lessons,  they  chanted  canticles; 
mass  was  then  said  in  presence  of  all  the  Christians,  the 
French,  and  the  converts,  the  women  on  the  one  side  and 
the  men  on  the  other.  From  prayers  and  instructions,  the 
missionaries  proceeded  to  visit  the  sick  and  administer  med- 
icine, and  their  skill  as  physicians  did  more  than  all  the 
rest  to  win  confidence.  In  the  afternoon  the  catechism  was 
taught  in  the  presence  of  the  young  and  the  old,  when  every 
one,  without  distinction  of  rank  or  age,  answered  the  ques , 
tions  of  the  missionary.  At  evening  all  would  assemble  at 
the  chapel  for  instruction,  for  prayer,  and  to  chant  the 
hymns  of  the  church.  On  Sundays  and  festivals,  even  after 
vespers,  a  homily  was  pronounced ;  at  the  close  of  the  day 
parties  would  meet  in  houses  to  recite  the  chaplets  in  alter- 
nate choirs,  and  sing  psalms  until  late  at  night.  These 
psalms  were  often  homilies,  with  words  set  to  familiar 
tunes.  Saturday  and  Sunday  were  the  days  appointed  for 
confession  and  communion,  and  every  convert  confessed 
once  in  a  fortnight."* 

This  description  by  Bancroft  is  chiefly  drawn  from  a 
narrative  letter  written  by  Father  Marest  to  Father  Germon, 
dated  November  9,  1712,  and  published  in  the  Lettres  Edifi- 
antes,  at  Paris.  In  the  course  of  that  letter,  Marest  remarks  : 
"  The  Illinois  are  much  less  barbarous  than  the  other  Indians. 
Christianity  and  their  intercourse  with  the  French  have 
somewhat  civilized  them.  ...  It  would  be  difficult  to 


*  Father  Mermet  continued  to  labor  at  the  Kaskaskia  mission  until 
his  death  in  1718. 


206  Illinois  as  a  Dependency  of  Canada. 

say  what  is  their  religion.  It  consists  entirely  in  some 
superstitions  with  which  their  credulity  is  amused." 

These  missionary  priests  were  truly  a  heroic  and  self- 
devoted  class  of  men.  Of  their  hard  and  trying  manner  of 
life,  the  same  father  gives  us  some  glimpses  in  his  printed 
correspondence.  On  Good  Friday,  in  the  year  1711,  he  set 
out  on  a  trip  across  the  country  to  the  Peorias,  who  wanted 
a  new  mission  opened  among  them.  Concerningthis  journey 
on  foot  through  the  wilderness,  he  thus  vividly  writes  : 

"  I  departed,  having  nothing  about  me  but  my  crucifix 
and  breviary,  and  being  accompanied  by  only  two  savages, 
who  might  abandon  me  from  levity,  or  might  fly  through 
fear  of  enemies.  The  terror  of  these  vast,  uninhabited 
regions,  in  which  for  twelve  days  not  a  single  soul  was 
seen,  almost  took  away  my  courage.  This  was  a  journey 
wherein  there  was  no  village,  no  bridge,  no  ferry-boat,  no 
house,  no  beaten  path,  and  over  boundless  prairies,  inter- 
sected by  rivulets  and  rivers,  through  forests  and  thickets 
filled  with  briars  and  thorns,  through  marshes  in  which  we 
sometimes  plunged  to  the  girdle.  At  night  repose  was 
sought  on  the  grass  or  leaves,  exposed  to  the  winds  and 
rains,  happy  if  by  the  side  of  some  rivulet,  whose  waters 
might  quench  our  thirst.  Meals  were  prepared  from  such 
game  as  might  be  killed  on  the  way,  or  by  roasting  ears  of 
corn." 

Father  Marest  was  longer  in  missionary  service  with 
the  Illinois  Indians  than  any  of  his  predecessors.  He  died, 
it  is  said,  near  Peoria,  September  17,  1715. 

It  has  been  a  mooted  question  among  Illinois  antiqua- 
rians as  to  which  is  the  more  ancient  of  the  two  villages, 
Kaskaskia  or  Cahokia.  Pittman,  in  his  account  of  the 
French  Settlements,  says  that  Cahokia  "  was  the  first  settle- 
ment on  the  Mississippi; "  and  in  the  "Annals  of  the  West" 
it  is  stated  that  "  Cahokia  appears  to  have  been  a  trading 
post  and  missionary  station  earlier  than  Kaskaskia."  These 
statements  are  supported  by  the  weight  of  probability, 
though  the  difference  in  age  between  the  two  can  hardly 
exceed  one  year.  According  to  Breese's  History,  the  Jesuit 
Fathers  Pinet  and  Biniieteau  established  the  mission  at 


Founding  of  Cahokia.  207 

Cahokia,  and  christened  the  little  community  which  grew 
up  around  it  by  the  name  of  St.  Famille,  de  Caoquias.  It 
is  doubtful,  however,  if  Father  Binneteau  ever  labored  at 
this  mission. 

"  The  credit  of  establishing  the  mission  of  Cahokia,  at 
first  called  Tamaroa,  belongs  to  Rev.  Jacques  Pinet,  but  at 
what  date  has  been  a  matter  of  dispute.  Up  to  the  time  of 
St.  Cosme's  visit  to  the  Tarnaroas  in  1699,  it  appears  that  no 
'black  gown'  had  been  seen  there,  except  Father  Gravier 
for  a  few  days.  The  following  year,  however,  when  Le 
Sueur  had  reached  this  village  (where  he  remained  seven- 
teen days),  he  found  three  French  missionaries,  viz.:  Rev. 
J.  Bergier,  and  Fathers  Pinet  and  Joseph  de  Limoges,  and 
also  a  number  of  Canadian  traders,  who  were  purchasing  furs 
and  skins.  In  October  of  the  same  year  (1700),  Father 
Gravier  mentions  the  fact  in  his  journal  that,  on  his  way 
down  the  Mississippi,  he  stopped  at  the  village  of  the  Tam- 
aroas,  and  found  Father  Pinet  there,  '  peaceably  discharg- 
ing the  functions  of  a  missionary,  and  Rev.  M.  Bergier, 
also,'  who  had  care  only  of  the  French.  Father  Bergier 
remained  at  Cahokia  until  his  death,  July  16,  1710."  * 

Father  Pinet  met  with  unusual  success  in  his  mission 
at  Cahokia,  and  soon  found  his  chapel  too  small  to  accom- 
modate the  crowds  that  resorted  thither  to  the  mass.  The 
Indians  under  his  spiritual  charge  were  the  Tamaroas  and 
Cahokias,  the  latter  being  an  allied  tribe  or  branch  of  the 
former.  The  imposing  rites  of  the  Roman  Church  were 
well  calculated  to  awe  the  senses  of  these  ignorant  and 
superstitious  savages,  but  the  religious  impressions  made 
upon  their  minds  were  feeble  and  transient,  and  when  away 
from  the  influence  and  guidance  of  the  priests,  they  were 
prone  to  relapse  into  the  excesses  of  barbarism. 

When  the  village  of  Cahokia  was  originally  established 
(say  in  1699),  it  stood  upon  the  immediate  bank  of  the 
Mississippi;  but  in  the  course  of  a  few  years  the  river 


*  "  Illinois,  Historical  and  Statistical."    By  John  Moses,  Chicago, 
),  Vol.  I.,  p.  85. 


208  Illinois  as  a  Dependency  of  Canada. 

shifted  its  bed  to  the  west,  so  as  to  leave  the  village  some 
distance  inland.  It  long  remained  a  place  of  considerable 
importance  for  trade,  though  there  was  never  any  thing 
attractive  in  its  situation  or  environs.  At  present  it  is  a 
straggling,  decayed,  and  antiquated  little  village,  seated  on 
a  sandy  ridge  in  the  American  Bottom,  opposite  Caron do- 
let,  and  about  one  mile  east  from  the  Mississippi  River. 

Besides  Kaskaskia  and  Cahokia,  other  French  villages 
afterward  sprang  up  in  that  vicinity,  which  will  be  noticed 
hereafter.  Other  and  branch  missions  were  also  established 
among  the  Illinois  Indians  by  the  zeal  and  enterprise  of  the 
Jesuit  clergy,-  who,  prior  to  the  introduction  of  any  form 
of  civil  government  in  the  country,  officiated  in  the  double 
capacity  of  spiritual  directors  and  temporal  rulers  of  the 
people. 

Although  anticipating  somewhat  the  chronological  or- 
der of  events  in  our  history,  we  make  space  here  for  the 
following  extracts  from  Father  Charlevoix'  interesting  and 
instructive  description  of  the  Illinois  country,  through 
which  he  traveled  with  an  armed  escort  in  the  autumn  of 
1721.  Of  Peoria,  then  still  an  Indian  village,  he  says : 

"  The  two  following  days,  we  traveled  a  charming 
country  ;  and  the  3d  of  October,  about  noon,  we  found  our- 
selves at  the  entrance  of  Lake  Pimiteouy.  It  is  the  river 
which  grows  wider  here,  and  which  for  three  leagues  is 
one  league  in  breadth.  At  the  end  of  these  three  leagues, 
we  find  on  the  right  a  second  village  of  the  Illinois,  distant 
about  fifteen  leagues  from  that  at  the  Rock.*  Nothing  can 
be  more  pleasant  than  the  situation ;  it  has  over  against  it, 
as  in  perspective,  a  very  fine  forest,  which  was  then  of  all 
colors,  and  behind  it  a  plain  of  immense  extent,  bordered 
with  woods.  The  lake  and  the  river  swarm  with  fish,  and 
their  sides  with  wild  fowl.  I  met  also  in  this  village  four 
French-Canadians,  who  informed  me  that  I  was  between 
four  parties  of  enemies,  and  that  it  was  unsafe  for  me  either 
to  go  forward  or  return." 

*  By  the  course  of  the  river,  the  distance  was  nearer  thirty  than  fif- 
teen leagues. 


Charlevoix'  Visit  to  the  Illinois.  209 

Accompanied  by  two  of  the  Canadians  from  Peoria  as 
guides,  Charlevoix  and  party  resumed  their  journey,  and 
next  stopped  at  Cahokia,  concerning  which  village,  and  the 
missionaries  stationed  there,  he  thus  writes  : 

"  The  same  day  (10th  of  October),  we  went  to  lay  in 
a  village  of  the  Caoquias  and  Tamarouas.  These  are  two 
nations  of  the  Illinois  which  are  united,  and  who  do  not 
together  make  a  very  numerous  village.  It  is  situated  on 
a  little  river  which  comes  from  the  east,  and  which  has  no 
water  but  in  the  spring  season ;  so  that  we  were  forced  to 
walk  a  good  half  league  to  the  cabins.  I  was  surprised 
that  they  had  chosen  such  an  inconvenient  situation,  as 
they  might  have  found  a  much  better ;  but  they  told  me 
that  the  Mississippi  washed  the  foot  of  the  village  when  it 
was  built,  and  that  in  three  years  it  (the  river)  had  lost  half 
a  league  of  ground,  and  that  they  were  thinking  of  looking 
out  for  another  settlement.  I  passed  the  night  in  the  house 
of  the  missionaries,  who  are  two  ecclesiastics  of  the  Sem- 
inary of  Quebec,  formerly  my  disciples,  but  who  might  now 
be  my  masters.  The  oldest  of  the  two  (Dominique  A. 
Thaumer)  was  absent.  I  found  the  youngest  (Francois  le 
Mercier)  such  as  he  has  been  reported  to  me,  severe  to 
himself,  full  of  charity  for  others,  and  making  virtue  ami- 
able in  his  own  person  But  he  has  so  little  health,  that  I 
think  he  can  not  long  support  the  way  of  life  which  they 
are  obliged  to  lead  in  these  missions." 

Of  Kaskaskia  and  its  environs,  the  same  traveler 
writes  :  "  I  arrived  next  day  (the  12th)  at  the  Kaskasquias, 
at  nine  in  the  morning.  The  Jesuits  had  here  a  very  nour- 
ishing mission,  which  has  lately  been  divided  into  two,  be- 
cause it  was  thought  proper  to  form  two  villages  of  sav- 
ages instead  of  one.  The  most  populous  is  on  the  side  of 
the  Mississippi ;  two  Jesuits*  have  the  government  of  it  in 
spiritual  affairs.  Half  a  league  lower  is  Fort  Chartres, 
about  a  musket-shot  from  the  river.  M.  Duquet  de  Bois- 
briant,  a  Canadian  gentleman,  commands  here  for  the  Com- 

*  Fathers  Boulanger  and  Kereben. 
14. 


210  Illinois  as  a  Dependency  of  Canada. 

pany,  to  which  the  place  belongs  ;  and  all  the  space  be- 
tween the  two  places  begins  to  be  peopled  by  the  French. 
Four  leagues  further,  and  two  leagues  from  the  river,  there 
is  a  large  village  of  French,  who  are  almost  all  Canadians, 
and  have  a  Jesuit  for  their  priest.  The  second  village  of 
the  Illinois  is  two  leagues  distant  from  it  and  farther  up  the 
country,  and  is  under  the  charge  of  a  priest. 

"  The  French  here  are  pretty  much  at  their  ease.  A 
Fleming,  who  was  a  servant  of  the  Jesuits,  has  taught 
them  how  to  sow  wheat,  and  it  thrives  very  well.  They 
have  some  horned  cattle  and  fowls.  The  Illinois  cultivate 
the  lands  after  their  fashion,  and  are  very  laborious.  They 
likewise  breed  poultry,  which  they  sell  to  the  French. 
Their  women  are  sufficiently  dexterous ;  they  spin  the  buf- 
falo's wool,  and  make  it  as  fine  as  that  of  the  English 
sheep.  Sometimes  one  would  even  take  it  for  silk.  They 
make  stuffs  of  it,  which  they  dye  black,  yellow  and  dark 
red ;  they  make  gowns  of  it,  which  they  sew  with  thread 
made  of  the  sinews  of  the  roebuck.  They  expose  these  to 
the  sun  for  three  days,  and  when  dry  beat  them,  and  with- 
out difficulty  draw  out  threads  of  great  fineness. 

"All  this  country  is  open.  It  consists  of  vast  meadows 
(prairies)  which  extend  for  twenty-five  leagues,  and  are 
separated  by  little  groves  that  are  all  of  good  wood." 

Remaining  at  Kaskaskia  for  a  month,  Charlevoix  re- 
sumed his  way  down  the  Mississippi,  and  reached  the  con- 
fluence of  the  Ohio  about  the  15th  of  November,  1721. 
With  regard  to  this  river  (then  still  called  the  Ouabache), 
and  the  advantage  of  having  a  settlement  at  its  mouth,  his 
journal  says : 

"  Immediately  after  this  reach,  we  passed  on  the  left 
by  the  fine  river  Ouabache,  by  which  one  can  go  quite  up 
to  the  Iroquois,  when  the  waters  are  high.  Its  entrance 
into  the  Mississippi  is  a  little  less  than  a  quarter  of  a 
league  wide.  There  is  no  place  in  Louisiana  more  fit,  in 
my  opinion,  for  a  settlement  than  this,  nor  where  it  is  of 
more  consequence  to  have  one."  * 

*  Vide  "An  Historical  Journal  of  Travels  in  North  America,  under- 


Charlevoix'  Life  and  Works.  211 

taken  by  order  of  the  King  of  France."    By  Father  Charlevoix  (English 
Translation,  London,  1703),  pp.  28-1-291,  and  303. 


Pierre  Francois  Xavier  de  Charlevoix,  an  eminent  Jesuit  scholar, 
historian,  and  traveler,  was  born  at  St.  Quentin,  in  the  North  of  France, 
October  29, 1682.  At  the  age  of  sixteen  he  entered  the  Society  of  Jesus, 
and  while  still  a  student  of  divinity  was  sent  to  Canada  in  1705.  During 
the  succeeding  four  years  he  taught  in  the  Jesuit  College  at  Quebec, 
and  afterward  returned  to  France,  where  he  was  made  a  professor  of 
belles-lettres  in  one  of  the  Jesuit  universities.  In  1720  he  again  came  to 
Canada,  and  during  the  next  year  ascended  the  river  St.  Lawrence,  and 
the  great  lakes  to  the  head  of  Lake  Michigan,  from  whence  he  entered 
and  traversed  the  Illinois  country.  Descending  the  Mississippi  to  New 
Orleans,  he  thence  visited  the  French  establishments  at  Biloxi  and  on 
the  Mobile,  and  afterward  sailed  via  St.  Domingo  to  France,  whither  he 
arrived  (1722)  after  an  absence  of  two  years. 

Charlevoix  was  author  of  several  learned  and  valuable  works.  He 
first  published  a  history  of  the  Catholic  Missions  in  Japan,  which  was 
followed  by  a  history  of  Saint  Domingo ;  and  in  1744  his  Histaire  de 
Nouvelle  France,  which  had  been  withheld  for  nearly  twenty  years,  ap- 
peared in  three  large  volumes.  Although  quoted  and  praised  by  schol- 
ars, no  translation  of  it  was  made  from  the  French  until  somewhat  re- 
cently, when  an  edition  in  English,  with  copious  notes,  was  published 
by  Dr.  John  G.  Shea  (N.  Y.,  1865-72),  in  six  volumes. 

About  the  year  1744,  Charlevoix  also  published  his  Journal  of  Trav- 
els in  North  America,  in  the  form  of  letters  addressed  to  the  Duchesse 
de  Lesdiguiere.  It  is  averred  that  from  this  work  the  British  Ministry 
first  gained  a  correct  notion  of  Canada  and  its  dependencies,  and  of  the 
great  advantages  to  be  derived  from  the  possession  of  that  country. 
The  last  literary  performance  of  our  author  was  his  History  of  Para- 
guay, which  contains  a  full  account  of  the  operations  of  the  Jesuits  in 
that  southern  quarter  of  the  globe. 

Charlevoix  died  in  La  Fl^che,  France,  on  February  1,  1761,  at  a 
green  old  age. 


212  Settlement  of  Lower  Louisiana. 


CHAPTER   XI. 

169&-1711. 
PERMANENT    SETTLEMENT    OF   LOWER   LOUISIANA. 

By  the  treaty  concluded  at  Ryswick,  in  1697,  Louis 
XIV.  relinquished  nearly  all  of  his  European  conquests, 
and  recognized  the  Prince  of  Orange  as  King  of  England, 
Temporary  tranquillity  being  thus  restored  in  Western 
Europe,  Louis  had  some  leisure  to  devote  to  his  American 
possessions,  and  to  the  renewal  of  his  former  endeavor  to 
establish  a  colony  at  or  near  the  embouchure  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi River.  This  monarch  was  obviously  ambitious  to 
enhance  the  glories  of  his  reign  by  creating  for  France  a 
colonial  dominion  on  the  sunny  shores  of  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico,  which  might  rival  the  flourishing  English  settle- 
ments on  the  Atlantic  coast.  Accordingly,  in  the  begin- 
ning of  the  year  1698,  he  gave  orders  for  the  fitting  out  of 
a  suitable  expedition  to  colonize  Louisiana.  The  command 
of  this  royal  enterprise  was  entrusted  to  Captain  d'lber- 
ville,  a  distinguished  young  naval  officer,  whose  energy, 
tact,  administrative  ability,  and  varied  experience  pecu- 
liarly qualified  him  for  so  arduous  and  important  an  un- 
dertaking. 

Pierre  le  Moyne,*  Sieur  d'Iberville,  was  a  native  of 
Canada,  having  been  born  in  Montreal,  July  16,  1661.  He 
was,  it  is  said,  the  third  son  of  Charles  le  Moyne,  himself  a 
gallant  soldier,  and  was  one  of  eleven  brothers,  seven  of 
whom  died  naval  officers.  When  but  a  boy  of  fourteen, 
Pierre  entered  the  French  navy  as  a  midshipman,  and  by 
meritorious  service  rose  rapidly  in  his  profession.  In  1692 
he  became  captain  of  a  frigate,  and,  ten  years  later,  cap- 
tain of  a  line-of-battle-ship.  During  this^  period  of  active 


*  By  some  authors,  this  family  name  is  written  Lemoine. 


Iberville's  Colonizing  Expedition.  213 

service,  he  acquitted  himself  not  only  as  a  brave  and  skill- 
ful naval  officer,  hut  as  an  efficient  agent  of  the  French 
government  in  settling  colonies  in  Acadia  and  Cape  Breton 
Island.  In  1697  he  made  a  cruise  with  his  ship,  the  Peli- 
can, into  the  misty  and  frigid  waters  of  Hudson's  Bay, 
where  he  engaged  and  sunk  an  English  man-of-war,  cap- 
tured her  two  consorts,  and  reduced  Fort  Nelson,  or  Fort 
Bourbon,  as  it  was  called  by  the  French.  Returning  to 
France  from  this  brilliant  cruise,  he  sought  and  obtained 
command  of  the  new  colonizing  expedition  to  the  Missis- 
sippi. 

On  the  24th  of  September,  1698,  Captain  d'Iberville 
set  sail  from  Rochelle  upon  his  distant  and  uncertain  en- 
terprise, taking  with  him  M.  de  Sauvolle,*  and  his  young 
brother,  Bienville.  His  squadron  consisted  of  two  frigates, 
the  Badine  and  Marin,  of  thirty  guns  each  (the  former  was 
commanded  by  himself,  and  the  latter  by  the  Comte  de 
Surgeres)  and  two  smaller  ships,  bearing  a  company  of 
marines  and  about  two  hundred  colonists.  A  majority  of 
the  latter  were  ex-soldiers,  who  had  served  in  the  armies 
of  France,  some  of  whom  were  accompanied  by  their 
wives  arid  children.  The  other  colonists  were  made  up  of 
artisans,  laborers,  and  needy  adventurers.  They  were  all 
supplied  with  the  necessary  clothing,  provisions  and  im- 
plements for  beginning  a  settlement  in  the  remote  solitudes 
of  Louisiana.  Stopping  at  Brest  to  complete  his  outfit, 
the  commander  sailed  from  that  port  on  the  24th  of  Octo- 
ber, shaping  his  general  course  to  the  south-west.  After 
an  auspicious  passage,  he  dropped  anchor  in  the  haven 
of  Cape  Francois,  now  Cape  Haytien,  St.  Domingo,  late  in 
the  following  December. 

On  arriving  thither,  his  fleet  was  joined  by  the  war 
ship  Le  Francois,  of  fifty  guns,  commanded  by  the  Mar- 
quis de  Chateaumorant,  who  had  received  orders  to  escort 
the  expedition  to  its  destination.  Being  thus  reinforced, 


*It  is  doubtful  if  Sauvolle  belonged  to 'the  Le  Moyne  family  of 
brothers,  though  Mr.  Gayarre  treats  him  as  a  full  brother,  and  tells 
us  that  he  inherited  a  fortune  from  his  godfather. 


214  Settlement  of  Lower  Louisiana. 

D'Iberville  again  put  to  sea  on  the  1st  of  January,  1699, 
taking  the  route  via  Cape  San  Antonio,  at  the  western  end 
of  Cuba.  Having  doubled  that  cape  on  the  15th  of  Janu- 
ary, he  steered  northward  over  the  Mexican  Gulf,  and 
reached  the  southern  shore  of  Florida  on  the  24th.  An- 
choring his  ships  securely  off  the  Island  of  Santa  Rosa, 
he  then  proceeded  to  reconnoiter  the  Bay  of  Pensacola 
(called  by  the  Spaniards  Santa  Maria  de  Galva),  where  he 
found  two  Spanish  war  vessels,  and  a  small  fort  and  garri- 
son. Upon  sending  in  a  boat  with  two  officers,  the  Spanish 
commander  received  them  politely,  but  refused  the  French 
permission  to  enter  with  their  vessels.  The  Spaniards  had 
long  been  in  possession  of  East  Florida,  but  it  was  not 
until  they  had  learned  that  a  French  armament  was  fitting 
out  for  the  western  coast  of  the  peninsula,  that  they  made 
haste  to  establish  this  military  post  on  Pensacola  Bay. 
The  new  erection,  therefore,  was  an  obvious  indication  of 
their  intention  to  anticipate,  and,  if  possible,  frustrate  the 
designs  of  the  French  in  these  waters. 

Leaving  Pensacola  Bay  and  standing  along  the  low 
coast  to  the  west,  D'Iberville,  on  the  31st  of  the  month, 
cast  anchor  off  Dauphin  Island,  lying  on  the  west  and  near 
the  entrance  of  Mobile  Bay.  This  Island  was  first  named 
by  the  French  Isle  de  Massacre,  from  the  circumstance  that 
on  its  level  surface  was  found  a  mound  composed  of  earth 
and  the  bones  of  long  dead  Indians,  who  had  fallen  there 
in  combat  with  their  enemies.  Sailing  still  farther  west- 
ward, the  French  commander  next  discovered  a  group  of 
small  islands,  to  which  was  given  the  name  of  Isles  des 
Chandeleur.  Anchoring  his  frigates  near  them,  he  went  to 
examine  the  channel  between  Cat  Island  and  Ship  Island, 
and,  having  landed  his  colonists  on  the  latter,  he  caused 
temporary  huts  to  be  erected  there  for  their  shelter  from 
the  weather.  The  Marquis  de  Chateaumorant,  having  now 
fulfilled  his  mission,  and  finding  the  waters  on  this  coast 
too  shallow  to  remain  long  in  safety  with  his  large  frigate, 
sailed  away  on  his  return  to  St.  Domingo. 

About  the  llth  of  February,  Iberville  sent  his  brother 
Bienville,  with  a  felucca  and  canoe,  to  the  mainland,  which 


Iberville  inters  the  Mouth  of  the  Mississippi.         215 

lay  about  four  leagues  to  the  north  of  his  anchorage. 
Having  entered  a  little  bay,  the  exploring  party  discovered 
several  piroques  filled  with  half-naked  savages,  who  fled 
with  consternation  at  the  approach  of  the  Frenchmen.  On 
the  next  day,  however,  the  latter  contrived  to  intercept  a 
woman  of  the  Indians,  by  whom  they  were  enabled  to 
open  an  intercourse  with  her  tribe,  which  was  the  Bilocci, 
or  Biloxi — a  name  given  by  the  French  to  the  bay  itself. 
On  the  evening  of  the  same  day  there  arrived  at  this  bay  a 
war  party  of  some  eighty  Bayagoulas,  so  called,  who  were 
then  at  war  with  the  Indians  on  the  Mobile.  From  the 
former  it  was  learned,  by  the  language  of  signs  (for  there 
was  no  interpreter,)  that  they  dwelt  off  to  the  south-west, 
on  the  shores  of  a  large  and  deep  river,  called  by  them  the 
Malabouchia.  Having  ascertained  by  further  inquiry  among 
the  natives  the  probable  distance  and  course  of  the  un- 
known river,  Iberville  prepared  to  go  in  quest  of  it. 

Accordingly,  on  the  27th  of  February,  he  set  off  from 
Isle  de  Vaisseau  (Ship  Island)  with  two  shallops,  carrying 
twenty-four  men  each — one  of  which  was  commanded  by 
Bienville — and  took  with  him  as  a  guide  Father  Anastase 
Douay,  who  had  been  a  companion  of  La  Salle  in  his  last 
Mississippi  expedition.  Sailing  cautiously  southward  along 
the  low  and  marshy  coast,  at  the  end  of  three  days  the  voy- 
agers happily  discovered  the  outlet  of  the  "  hidden  river," 
which  it  was  believed  no  European  vessel  had  as  yet  pene- 
trated from  the  sea.  On  the  2d  of  March  they  entered 
one  of  its  principal  passes,  which  Father  Anastase*  thought 
he  recognized  as  the  Mississippi,  from  its  turbid  and  seeth- 
ing waters.  On  the  3d  they  began  to  ascend  the  river,  and, 
after  seven  days  of  sailing  and  rowing,  had  attained  a  dis- 


*  Father  Douay,  as  Hennepin  informs  us,  was  a  native  of  Quesnoy 
in  Hainault,  and,  subsequent  to  his  return  from  America  in  1688,  had 
been  appointed  vicar  of  the  Recollet  convent  at  Cambray.  Remaining 
there  until  summoned  to  join  D'Iberville's  colonizing  expedition,  he 
probably  returned  with  the  latter  to  France  in  1699,  since  we  find  no 
further  mention  of  him  in  Louisiana.  We  were  pleased  to  have  met 
with  Pere  Anastase  once  more ;  and  now  that  he  disappears  from  the 
historic  page,  we  can  only  say,  hail !  and  farewell. 


216  Settlement  of  Lower  Louisiana. 

tance  of  forty  leagues  from  the  Gulf.  Here  our  explorers 
came  upon  three  pirogues  filled  with  naked  savages,  who 
hastily  fled  at  their  advance.  One  of  the  natives,  however, 
was  overtaken  in  his  flight,  and  by  making  him  some  trifling 
presents,  which  gained  his  good  will,  he  was  induced  to 
bring  back  his  companions.  They  belonged  to  the  tribe 
of  the  Bayagoulas,  and  readily  undertook  to  conduct  the 
frenchmen  to  their  village,  further  up  the  river,  which  was 
reached  on  the  14th  of  March.  It  was  found  to  contain 
between  four  and  five  hundred  inhabitants,  and  mustered 
about  one  hundred  warriors.  Among  the  villagers  were 
found  stuffs  of  European  fabric,  said  to  have  been  given 
them  by  La  Salle  or  Tonty.  The  chiefs  of  the  Bayagoulas 
received  their  French  visitors  in  a  very  civil  manner,  and 
gave  to  them,  among  other  things,  a  few  domestic  fowls, 
which  they  claimed  to  have  reared  from  some  they  had  ob- 
tained from  nations  to  the  west  of  the  Mississippi,  near 
the  seashore.  Such  fowls  were  not  uncommon  among  the 
southern  Indians  at  this  time,  though  it  seems  that  they 
were  kept  more  as  pets  than  for  use  as  an  article  of  food. 
They  were  doubtless  originally  brought  to  the  country  by 
the  Spaniards. 

M.  d'Iberville  was  still  in  doubt  whether  the  river  he 
was  ascending  was  the  Mississippi  or  not ;  for  he  had  not 
as  yet  seen  or  heard  of  the  Tangibaos,  of  whom  La  Salle 
had  made  mention.  Upon  inquiry,  however,  it  was  ascer- 
tained that  this  small  tribe  had  been  destroyed  by  another 
called  the  Mongoulachas,  or  Bayagoulas,  the  Quinipissas  of 
La  Salle  and  Tonty.  Soon  afterward,  Bienville  found  in 
the  possession  of  one  of  these  natives  a  letter  which  Tonty 
had  penned  to  La  Salle,  and  left  in  the  keeping  of  a  chief 
of  the  Quinipissas  tribe,  on  the  occasion  of  his  trip  to  the 
Gulf  in  the  spring  of  1686.*  This  opportune  discovery 

*  This  letter  of  Tonty's,  to  which  we  have  previously  alluded,  or  eo 
much  of  it  as  was  published,  reads  as  follows : 

"  VILLAGE  OF  THE  QUINIPISSAS,  April  20,  1685  (1686). 

11  Sir:  Having  found  the  posts  on  which  you  had  set  up  the  King's 
arms  thrown  down  by  driftwood,  I  have  planted  another  further  in, 
about  seven  leagues  from  the  sea,  where  I  left  a  letter  in  a  tree  be- 


Iberville  Explores  the  Lower  Mississippi.  217 

dissipated  all  doubts  in  the  minds  of  Iberville  and  his  asso- 
ciates as  to  what  river  they  were  navigating,  and  inspired 
them  with  fresh  confidence  to  continue  their  upward  voy- 
age. Among  the  Indians  of  this  delta  region,  they  also 
found  part  of  an  old  suit  of  Spanish  armor,  which  was  sup- 
posed to  have  belonged  to  De  Soto's  army. 

On  the  18th,  still  cautiously  ascending,  our  voyagers 
passed  on  their  right  the  Baton  Rouge,  the  first  high 
bank  *  they  had  seen  since  entering  the  river.  Here  was 
established  the  northern  limit  of  the  hunting  grounds  of 
the  Bayagoulas.  Some  distance  above  that  they  came  to  a 
point  where  the  river  made  a  long  detour  or  circuit,  and,  to 
save  time,  the  commander  caused  the  trees  to  be  felled,  and 
transported  his  boats  to  the  opposite  side  of  the  peninsula. 
The  Mississippi  afterward  cut  itself  a  channel  through  this 
point,  which  has  ever  since  been  known  as  "Point  Coupee." 
On  the  20th  the  explorers  arrived  at  a  large  village  of  the 
Oumas,  containing  over  three  hundred  braves,  who  wel- 
comed them  with  music  and  dances,  and  acquainted  them 
with  the  Indian  ceremony  of  smoking  the  calumet  of  peace. 
At  this  village  they  saw  many  domestic  fowls,  which  were 
mostly  kept  for  ornamental  purposes. 

Here  the  Sieur  d'Iberville,  learning  that  there  was  a 
river  or  bayou  to  the  eastward,  which  he  could  reach  by  a 
short  portage,  and  down  which  he  might  descend  through 
lakes  to  the  sea,  left  the  Mississippi,  with  two  canoes  and 
a  guide,  sending  Bienville  down  the  main  river  with  the 
large  boats,  under  instructions  to  meet  him  at  the  Isle  de 

side.  .  .  .  All  the  nations  have  sung  the  calumet  to  me ;  they  fear 
us  excessively  since  you  defeated  this  village.  I  conclude  by  saying, 
that  it  is  a  great  disappointment  to  me  that  we  should  return  without 
the  good  fortune  of  meeting  you,  after  two  canoes  have  coasted  toward 
Mexico  for  thirty  leagues,  and  toward  Florida  for  twenty-five,  etc."  See 
Charlevoix'  New  France,  V.,  p.  123. 

*0n  this  bluff,  twenty-five  feet  above  high  water,  and  one  hundred 
and  twenty-nine  miles  by  the  river  above  New  Orleans,  the  French  sub- 
sequently established  a  fortlet  and  village  (now  city),  which  received 
the  name  of  Baton  Rouge,  or  Red  Post.  This  name,  according  to  Le 
Page  du  Pratz's  early  History  of  Louisiana,  is  derived  from  the  large 
cypress  trees  that  formerly  grew  there,  the  wood  of  which  is  red. 


218  Settlement  of  Lower  Louisiana. 

Vaisseau.  Proceeding  on  his  return  course,  Bienville 
reached  the  island,  without  accident,  about  the  first  of 
April.  Here  he  was  met  hy  Iberville,  who  had  arrived 
before  him,  having  come  down  through  the  bayou  Man- 
shac  or  Iberville,  and  the  two  connecting  lakes  or  arms  of 
the  Gulf,  which  he  severally  named  Maurepas  and  Pont- 
chartrain. 

On  the  12th  of  April,  M.  d'Iberville  went  to  examine 
a  small  bay,  lying  several  leagues  north  of  Isle  de  Vais- 
seau, to  which  he  gave  the  name  of  St.  Louis.  Pleased 
with  the  situation'  and  appearance  of  this  bay,  he  would 
have  removed  his  colony  thither  forthwith,  but  for  the  fact 
that  the  water  at  its  entrance  was  too  shallow  for  his  ves- 
sels of  heavy  draft.  Finally,  he  decided  to  locate  his  es- 
tablishment on  the  eastern  side  of  the  mouth  of  Biloxi 
Bay,  a  northern  arm  of  Mississippi  Sound.  The  spot  thus 
chosen  was  tolerably  healthy,  yet  sandy  and  unproductive 
in  the  extreme.  Its  sterility,  however,  was  not  particularly 
objected  to  by  the  colonists,  .who  thought  nothing  about 
agriculture,  but  only  of  trading  with  the  Indians,  and 
scouring  the  country  for  its  supposed  mineral  wealth. 

In  his  official  report,  D'Iberville  thus  describes  the  first 
settlement  ev.er  made  by  white  men  upon  the  soil  of  what 
is  now  the  State  of  Mississippi : 

"  After  having  visited  several  places  well  adapted  for 
forming  settlements,  our  provisions  falling  short,  we 
thought  best  to  commence  operations  at  the  Bay  of  Biloxi, 
four  leagues  north-west  of  the  place  where  the  ships  were 
anchored,  and  which  could  be  approached  at  a  distance  of 
two  leagues.  We  made  choice  of  this  place  merely  on  ac- 
count of  the  road,  where  the  small  vessels  can  go  and  come 
at  all  times,  and  where  we  could  assist,  without  fear,  with 
a  portion  of  the  crew,  in  building  the  fort  which  I  ordered 
to  be  constructed  there ;  whilst,  in  the  meantime,  the  place 
most  convenient  for  the  colony  can  be  selected  at  leisure. 

"  This  fort  is  built  of  wood,  with  four  bastions ;  two 
are  made  of  hewn  timber  placed  together,  one  foot  and  a 
half  thick,  and  nine  feet  high ;  the  other  two  of  double 


Iberoille  Plants  his  Colony  at  Biloxi  Bay.  219 

palisades.  It  is  mounted  with  fifty -four  pieces  of  cannon,* 
with  a  plentiful  supply  of  ammunition."  He  left  M.  de 
Sauvolle  in  command ;  DeBienville,  as  king's  lieutenant ; 
LeVasseur,  major;  DeBordenac,  chaplain;  M.  Care,  sur- 
geon ;  two  captains,  two  cannoniers,  four  sailors,  eighteen 
filibusters,  thirteen  Canadians,  ten  mechanics,  six  masons, 
'and  thirty  sub-oificers  and  soldiers  (ninety  in  all). 

M.  d'Iberville  named  this  fort  for  Count  Maurepas, 
who  was  then  Secretary  of  Foreign  Affairs.  After  causing 
a  group  of  log  huts  to  be  built  around  the  fort  for  the  use 
of  the  colonists,  and  having  them  to  plant  a  quantity  of 
beans  and  Indian  corn,  he  distributed  provisions  for  four 
or  five  months,  and,  on  the  3d  of  May,  re-embarked  for 
France.  Sailing  through  the  old  Bahama  Channel,  and 
touching  at  St.  Domingo,  he  arrived  in  safety  at  the  port 
of  Rochefort  on  July  2,  1699.f 

On  the  22d  of  May,  after  the  departure  of  Capt.  d' 
Iberville,  Lieutenant  Bienville  set  out  with  a  small  party  on 
an  excursion  into  the  interior  of  the  country.  During  the 
course  of  this  trip,  he  was  informed  that  a  band  of  two  hun- 
dred Chickasaws,  headed  by  two  white  men  (supposed  to 
be  Englishman  from  the  colony  in  Carolina),  had  fallen  upon 
and  destroyed  a  village  of  the  Colapissas,  situated  on  the 
northern  shore  of  Lake  Pontchartrain.  He,  however,  met 
with  no  enemy.  Returning  to  Fort  Biloxi,  he  again  set  off', 
on  the  9th  of  June,  with  two  canoes,  to  explore  the  coast 
on  the  east.  Having  passed  the  mouth  of  Pascagoula  River 
and  Mobile  Point,  he  approached  so  near  to  Fort  Pensacola 
that  he  perceived  it  was  still  occupied  by  the  Spaniards. 

About  the  first  of  July  the  colonists  at  Biloxi  Bay 
were  cheered  by  the  unexpected  arrival  of  two  bark  ca- 
noes, carrying  several  Canadians  and  two  Jesuit  priests, 
Father  Anthony  Davion  and  Father  Montigny.  They  came 


*  This  is  manifestly  an  error  or  misprint.  The  real  number  of  can- 
non mounted  upon  the  fort,  as  stated  by  Bancroft,  Gayarre  aiid  other 
historians,  was  twelve. 

tSee  M.  d'Iberville's  brief  official  narrative  of  this  expedition, 
printed  in  "  Historical  Collections  of  Louisiana  and  Florida,"  edited  by 
B.  F.  French.  (New  Series,  N.  Y.,  1869),  pp.  30-32. 


220  Settlement  of  Lower  Louisiana. 

by  way  of  the  Illinois  and  the  Mississippi,  and  having 
learned  from  the  Oumas  that  the  French  were  establishing 
a  colony  near  the  Gulf,  had  come  down  to  see  them.  After 
a  pleasant  visit  here  of  ten  days,  the  two  priests  departed 
to  begin  a  mission  among  the  Tonicas  on  the  Mississippi, 
near  the  Yazoo. 

In  September  of  the  same  year  (1699),  while  Lieuten- 
ant Bienville  was  descending  the  Lower  Mississippi,  and 
when  at  a  point  some  twenty-eight  leagues  from  the  sea, 
he  discovered  in  the  river  an  English  ship  of  sixteen  guns, 
commanded  by  one  Captain  Barr,  who  had  left  a  consort 
in  waiting  at  the  mouth.  The  English  captain  was  not 
certain  that  he  was  actually  upon  the  Mississippi,  and  Bien- 
ville gladly  availed  himself  of  the  opportunity  to  assure  him 
that  it  was  not  the  Mississippi ;  that  the  river  he  sought  ran 
much  farther  to  the  west,  and  that  the  stream  on  which  he 
was  sailing  was  within  the  limits  of  a  country  that  had 
been  taken  possession  of  in  the  name  of  his  majesty,  the 
King  of  France.  By  this  deception  the  wily  Frenchman 
induced  the  English  mariner  to  face  about  and  return  to 
the  sea ;  and  from  this  circumstance  the  place  has  ever 
since  borne  the  name  of  Detour  des  Anglais,  or  "  English 
Turn." 

It  is  related  as  a  fact,  that  on  board  Captain  Barr's  ship 
was  a  Protestant  Frenchman,  who  secretly  handed  to  Bien- 
ville a  letter  addressed  to  the  King  of  France,  in  which  his 
majesty  was  assured  that  if  he  would  accord  liberty  of  con- 
science to  a  Protestant  colony  in  Louisiana,  more  than  four 
hundred  Huguenot  families,  already  inured  to  exile  and 
hardships,  would  immigrate  hither  from  the  Carolinas. 
The  letter  was  afterward  transmitted  to  Count  Pontchar- 
train,  the  French  Minister  of  Colonies,  who,  with  the 
harshness  and  bigotry  of  that  age,  returned  for  answer, 
that  his  "  Christian  majesty  had  .not  expelled  heretics  from 
his  kingdom  in  order  to  establish  them  in  America." 

On  the  6th  of  January,  1700,  M.  d'Iberville  re-appeared 
in  the  waters  of  the  Gulf  off  Fort  Biloxi,  with  two  large 
ships  of  war — the  Renomme  rating  fifty  guns,  and  the 
Gironde  forty-six — bringing  with  him  sixty  Canadian  im- 


Iberville  Raises  a  Fort  on  the  Mississippi.  221 

migrants,  and  a  fresh  supply  of  provisions  and  stores  for 
the  needy  colonists.  He  also  brought  royal  commissions, 
appointing  Sauvolle  governor,  or  commandant  of  the  col- 
ony ;  Bienville  lieutenant,  and  Boisbriant  major.  By  the 
same  vessels  arrived  Pierre  le  Sueur  and  thirty  miners, 
who  had  been  sent  by  M.  de  Huillier,  of  Quebec,  to  open 
and  work  a  copper  mine  which  had  been  discovered  on 
the  St.  Peter's  (now  Minnesota)  River,  one  of  the  afflu- 
ents of  the  Upp'er  Mississippi.  Le  Sueur,  moreover,  had 
instructions  from  the  governor  of  Canada  to  erect  a  fort  on 
the  St.  Peter's,  to  hold  in  awe  the  Sioux  or  Dakotas.  He 
departed  in  April  on  his  mission  to  the  far  north.* 

When  the  vigilant  D'Iberville  was  informed  by  his 
brother  Bieuville  that  two  English  ships  had  appeared  in 
the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  he  determined  to  forthwith 
construct  a  fort  on  that  river,  so  as  to  anticipate  any  future 
attempt  of  the  English  to  gain  a  foot-hold  on  its  shores. 
Having  dispatched  Bienville  through  the  lakes  and  bayous 
to  the  Bayagoulas,  to  procure  guides  to  some  suitable  spot 
on  the  lower  part  of  the  river,  the  commander  himself  left 
Isle  de  Vaisseau,  or  Ship  Island,  on  the  15th  of  January, 
taking  with  him  sixty  men.  two  shallops,  and  two 
smaller  vessels  loaded  with  the  necessary  provisions,  imple- 
ments, etc.  After  entering  and  ascending  the  Mississippi 
about  eighteen  leagues,  he  was  met  by  Bienville,  and  they 
selected  a  position  secure  from  inundation,  and  there  begun 
the  construction  of  a  log  and  earth  fort,  which  received  the 
name  of  Iberville. 

Toward  the  middle  of  February,  while  still  engaged 
upon  the  fort,  M.  d'Iberville  was  joined  by  the  veteran  De 
Tonty,  who  arrived  with  a  party  of  twenty  Canadians  from 
the  Illinois,  and  who  is  said  to  have  come  in  response  to  an 
invitation  that  had  been  sent  him  from  Sauvolle.  Tonty 
was  now  past  his  prime,  yet  his  long  and  varied  experience 

*  "  Stoddard,  in  his  Sketches  of  Louisiana,  on  the  authority  of  a  MS. 
narrative  of  La  Harpe,  says  that  Le  Sueur  ascended  the  St.  Peter's  River 
to  the  mouth  of  Blue  Earth  River,  where  he  erected  a  fort  called 
L'Huillier,  which  was  abandoned  the  next  year  on  account  of  the  hos- 
tility of  the  Sioux."— Monette's  Val.  of  the  Miss.,  I.,  p.  206. 


222  Settlement  of  Lower  Louisiana. 

with  La  Salle,  and  his  intimate  knowledge  of  the  principal 
Indian  nations  of  the  Mississippi  Valley,  rendered  him  a 
valuable  acquisition  to  the  southern  colony.  Availing  him- 
self of  Tonty's  presence  and  assistance,  D'Iberville  decided 
to  ascend  the  river  as  far  as  the  Natchez,  and  establish  ami- 
cable relations  with  the  natives  on  the  way.  Hastily  or- 
ganizing an  expedition  for  this  purpose,  he  set  out  with 
Bienville  and  Tonty,  proceeding  in  boats  and  canoes. 
They  first  stopped  at  the  Bayagoulas,  where  they  remained 
till  the  first  week  in  March,  when  they  proceeded  to  the  Ou- 
mas.*  Continuing  their  upward  voyage,  they  next  reached 
the  Natchez,  whose  villages  lay  about  three  hundred  and 
seventy-five  miles  from  the  Gulf,  by  the  windings  of  the 
river. 

When  the  great  Sun-chief  heard  of  the  approach  of 
the  French,  he  came  forth  from  his  village  to  meet  them, 
borne  upon  a  litter,  and  attended  by  a  large  and  picturesque 
procession  of  his  people.  This  nation,  formerly  very  nu- 
merous and  powerful,  was  now  reduced  to  about  twelve 
hundred  warriors.  The  missionary  St.  Cosme,  already  re- 
ferred to,  had  arrived  the  year  before,  and  taken  up  his 
residence  among  them.  The  better  class  of  these  Indians 
appeared  to  D'Iberville  much  more  civilized  than  any 
others  he  had  met  with  in  the  country.  During  his  brief 
stay  here,  one  of  their  temples  was  struck  and  set  on  fire 
by  lightning.  The  keepers  of  the  temple  thereupon  solic- 
ited the  squaws  to  throw  their  infants  into  the  fire,  in 
order  to  appease  the  anger  of  the  divinity ;  and  a  number  of 
children  were  thus  sacrificed  before  the  Frenchmen  could 
prevail  upon  them  to  desist.f  Delighted  with  the  beauty 
of  the  Natchez  country,  and  especially  with  the  high,  bold 
bluff,  which  commands  an  extensive  prospect  up  and  down 
the  river,  D'Iberville  selected  it  for  the  future  capital  of 
Louisiana,  and  suggested  the  name  of  Rosalie,  which  was 
given  to  the  fort  afterward  built  here  by  the  French. 

On  the  22d  of  March,  Bienville  and  St.  Denis,  attended 
by  twenty  Canadians  and  a  number  of  Indians,  set  off 

*  The  village  of  the  Oumas,  or  Hournas,  was  situated  two  and  one- 
half  leagues  east  of  the  river. 

*  Martin's  History  of  Louisiana,  vol.  I.,  p.  152. 


Bienville' s  Excursion  to  Red  River.  223 

from  the  Natchez  on  a  tour  of  exploration  to  the  westward, 
which  extended  to  Red  River,  and  occupied  them  nearly 
two  months.  At  the  same  time,  D'Iberville,  accompanied, 
perhaps,  by  De  Tonty,*  returned  to  his  fort  above  the 
outlet  of  the  Mississippi,  and  thence  to  the  anchorage  of 
his  ships  at  Isle  de  Vaisseau.  Upon  his  arrival,  he  was 
surprised  to  learn  that  the  Spanish  governor  of  Pensacola 
had  been  there  with  a  twenty-four  gun  ship,  manned.by  one 
hundred  and  forty  marines,  and  some  armed  shallops,  in- 
tending to  drive  the  French  from  the  coast.  But  finding 
his  force  insufficient  for  this  purpose,  he  had  left  a  written 
protest  against  the  French  occupation  of  the  country, 
claiming  that  it  was  within  the  limits  of  his  Catholic 
majesty's  dominions  in  Mexico.  The  French,  however^ 
had  come  to  stay,  and  paid  little  heed  to  the  protest  of 
Spain,  whose  power  and  prestige  as  a  nation  were  on  the 
decline.  Having  put  his  colony  in  as  good  a  state  of  de- 
fense as  possible,  and  given  Bienville  command  of  the  fort 
on  the  Mississippi,  M.  d'Iberville  sailed  for  France  on  the 
28th  of  May,  1701. 

About  the  middle  of  May,  and  before  the  sailing  of 
D'Iberville,  Bienville  returned  from  his  western  expedition. 
He  had  ascended  the  Ouachita  (Washita)  a  considerable  dis- 
tance, thence  traversed  the  country  westward  to  Red  River, 
and  returned  down  the  latter  stream  and  the  Mississippi, 
having  passed  through  a  fertile  region  and  visited  several 
Indian  tribes,  particularly  the  Yatasses  and  Natchitoch.es. 
The  main  object  of  this  expedition  was  to  search  for  mines 
of  the  precious  metals,  and  another  was  to  ascertain  the 
probable  distance  to  the  nearest  Spanish  establishments  on 
the  west.  On  the  22d  of  July  in  that  year  (1701),  M.  de 
Sauvolle  died,  an  early  victim  to  bilious  fever,  leaving  the 
sole  direction  of  affairs  in  the  colony  to  Lieutenant  Bien- 
ville. 

On   the   18th  of  the  ensuing   December,  D'Iberville 


*  As  Tonty  still  retained  some  interest  in  Fort  St.  Louis  of  Illinois, 
it  is  not  improbable  that  he  returned  there  on  business  during  that 
year  (1700),  though  we  find  no  reliable  record  of  such  a  journey. 


224  Settlement  of  Lower  Louisiana. 

again  appeared  in  these  southern  waters  with  a  French 
armament,  consisting  of  the  Renomme,  a  fifty  gun  ship, 
the  Palmier,  of  forty-four  guns,  and  a  large  brigantine. 
His  arrival  was  very  opportune  for  the  starving  colonists, 
whose  number  had  been  diminished  by  disease  and  casualties 
to  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  persons,  and  who  had  been 
driven  to  such  straits  as  to  have  subsisted  for  some  time 
wholly  upon  maize.  Considering  the  unfavorable  condi- 
tion and  prospects  of  the  colony,  the  commander  now  or- 
dered the  removal  of  the  principal  establishment  from 
Biloxi  to  the  Mobile. 

Accordingly,  in  the  first  week  of  January,  1702,  Bien- 
ville  set  out  to  execute  the  orders  of  his  chief,  leaving  only 
twenty  men  as  a  garrison  at  Biloxi.  The  site  of  the  new 
establishment  was  fixed  on  the  west  side  of  the  Mobile 
River,  about  eighteen  leagues  from  the  sea.  Here  a  depot 
was  formed  and  a  fort  soon  built,  which  received  the  name 
of  Fort  Louis  de  la  Mobile.  By  the  20th  of  March,  the 
colonists  had  become  settled  in  their  new  quarters,  to  which 
were  transported  such  of  their  munitions  and  stores  as  had 
been  kept  on  Dauphin  Island.  This  removal  brought  the 
French  into  somewhat  closer  relations  with  the  Choctaws, 
who  inhabited  the  country  to  the  north  of  Mobile  Bay,  and 
who  were  then  at  war  with  the  Chickasaws.  But  M. 
d'Iberville,  before  his  departure  for  France,  was  enabled  to 
eft'ect  a  truce  between  those  puissant  tribes. 

On  the  24th  of  June  (1702),  a  Spanish  shallop  arrived 
from  Pensacola,  bringing  a  letter  from  Don  Francisco 
Martin,  governor  of  that  post,  stating  that  his  garrison  was 
in  a  state  of  famine,  and  requesting  a  supply  of  provisions, 
which  was  sent  to  him  by  Bienville.  Again,  on  the  llth 
of  November,  Don  Martin  himself  arrived  at  Fort  Louis 
from  Pensacola,  with  the  intelligence  that  France  and 
Spain  were  at  war  with  England.  He  asked  for  provisions 
and  munitions,  and  in  view  of  the  alliance  of  the  two 
former  powers,  his  request  was  granted.  In  the  meantime, 
on  the  first  of  October,  Father  Davion  visited  the  fort, 
with  two  Canadians  from  the  Yazoo  River.  They  were 
accompanied  by  Father  Limoges,  who  was  stationed  among 


The  Colony  Reinforced.  225 

the  Natchez,  and  who  informed  Bienville  that  the  Coroas 
Indians  had  killed  his  missionary  colleague,  Foucault,  and 
three  other  Frenchmen. 

On  the  28th  of  November  two  Spanish  officers  arrived 
at  the  French  head-quarters  from  St.  Augustine,  Florida, 
with  a  letter  from  the  governor  of  that  town,  stating  that 
he  was  besieged  by  an  English  force  from  Charleston,  with 
a  fleet  of  seventeen  vessels,  and  some  two  thousand  sav- 
ages. In  response  to  the  appeal  of  the  Spaniards  for  aid, 
M.  de  Bienville  gave  them  a  liberal  supply  of  munitions  of 
war,  and  also  dispatched  a  force  of  one  hundred  men  to 
their  assistance.  It  thus  appears  that,  notwithstanding 
the  jealousies  of  the  rival  colonies,  situated  so  near  each 
other,  with  conflicting  territorial  claims,  the  French  gen- 
erously assisted  their  neighbors  on  different  occasions  with 
both  provisions  and  ammunition.  At  this  period  the 
Spaniards  found  great  difficulty  in  maintaining  their  es- 
tablishments in  Florida.  This  was  principally  due  to 
the  inveterate  animosity  of  the  Indians  of  the  country, 
who  were  encouraged  in  their  hostilities,  and  sometimes 
materially  aided,  by  the  English  colonists  of  South  Car- 
olina. 

In  the  summer  of  1703,  M.  d'Iberville  sent  his  brother, 
Anthony  le  Moyne  de  Chateaugue,  to  Louisiana,  with  sev- 
enteen Canadian  colonists,  who  carried  with  them  imple- 
ments of  husbandry,  etc.  About  the  1st  of  May,  1704,  the 
Pelican,  a  fifty-gun  ship,  arrived  from  France  at  Dauphin 
Island,  loaded  with  provisions  and  military  stores  for  the 
colony.  She  brought  out  two  companies  of  troops  to  re- 
inforce the  garrisons,  four  priests,  two  nuns,  and  twenty 
poor  young  women,  who  were  shortly  afterward  married 
to  the  bachelor  colonists.  This  was  the  first  shipment  of 
unmarried  women  to  Louisiana,  and  was  followed  by  others 
at  intervals. 

During  the  autumn  of  that  year  there  was  much  sick- 
ness and  mortality  in  the  French  colony,  and  the  horrors 
of  famine  were  averted  only  by  relief  received  from  the 
Spanish  governor  of  Pensacola.  On  the  27th  of  October, 
15 


226  Settlement  of  Lower  Louisiana. 

intelligence  was  received  that  the  Spanish  fort  of  Pen- 
sacola  had  been  destroyed  by  fire,  together  with  a  large 
quantity  of  provisions,  clothing,  and  stores;  and  at  the 
same  time  a  request  came  that  the  French  would  send 
them  a  schooner  to  carry  the  tidings  of  their  disaster 
to  Vera  Cruz.  On  the  llth  of  December  news  came  that 
the  English  were  fitting  out  an  armament  at  Charleston, 
to  operate  against  the  French  establishments  at  Biloxi  and 
on  the  Mobile,  but  this  fortunately  proved  to  be  incorrect. 
In  January,  1705,  a  trader  named  De  Lambert  arrived  at 
the  Mobile  from  a  small  French  post  on  the  Wabash  (prob- 
ably the  Lower  Ohio),  which  he  had  abandoned  in  conse- 
quence of  the  hostile  disposition  of  the  savages  in  that  in- 
terior region.  During  this  year  war  again  broke  out  be- 
tween the  Choctaws  and  Chickasaws,  which  was  character- 
ized by  more  than  the  usual  Indian  barbarities.  A  tempo- 
rary peace,  however,  was  at  length  effected  through  the 
active  mediation  of  the  French  under  Bienville,  though  at 
considerable  personal  risk  to  the  latter. 

On  the  9th  of  July,  1706,  Pierre  le  Moyne,  Sieur 
d'Iberville,  died  at  sea,  near  St.  Domingo,  aged  forty- 
five  years.  He  had  been  previously  attacked  with  yel- 
low fever,  and  barely  escaped  with  his  life.  Unable  to 
sustain  the  enervating  influence  of  a  tropical  climate,  he 
had  retired  to  France  to  recuperate  his  broken  health. 
After  a  year  or  more  he  again  sailed  to  the  West  Indies, 
and  was  there  stricken  by  a  severe  disease  which  termin- 
ated his  earthly  existence.*  He  thus  fell  a  lamented  victim 
to  his  sense  of  official  duty,  and  of  devotion  to  the  service 
of  his  king  and  country.  We  have  already  passed  in  re- 
view the  chief  incidents  in  his  active  and  fortunate  career, 
and  need  only  add  here  a  brief  estimate  of  his  character. 
He  was  a  man  of  great  energy  and  determination  of  pur- 
pose, and,  as  a  naval  commander,  was  quick  and  judicious 
to  decide,  and  prompt  and  bold  in  the  execution  of  his 
plans.  Less  learned,  brilliant,  and  fanciful  than  La  Salle, 
he  was  better  balanced,  more  practical,  and  therefore  more 


*  Monette's  "  Valley  of  the  Mississippi,"  Vol.  I,  p.  207. 


Misfortunes  of  the  Louisiana  Colony.  227 

successful  as  a  colonizer.  The  idol  of  his  Canadian  coun- 
trymen, he  was  justly  recognized  as  one  of  the  ablest  cap- 
tains in  the  French  navy.  His  premature  decease  cast  a 
gloom  over  the  infant  colony  of  Louisiana,  of  which  he 
had  been  both  the  persevering  founder  and  constant  bene- 
factor. His  name  is  fitly  perpetuated  in  one  of  the  rivers, 
as  well  as  in  a  parish,  of  the  Pelican  State  of  Louisiana. 

After  the  death  of  D'Iberville,  contention  and  trouble 
arose  in  the  colony.  Bienville  was  charged  with  sundry 
acts  of  misconduct  and  mismanagement,  and  was  dis- 
missed from  office,  but  his  successor  dying  on  the  way 
from  France,  he  still  retained  the  command.  In  January, 
1707,  intelligence  was  brought  to  the  fort  on  the  Mobile 
that  St.  Cosme,  the  Jesuit  missionary  among  the  Natchez, 
and  three  other  Frenchmen,  had  been  slain  by  the  Cheti- 
machas,  as  they  were  descending  the  river  to  the  sea.* 
Presents  were  thereupon  sent  by  the  French  to  the  surround- 
ing nations,  to  induce  them  to  wage  war  upon  that  treach- 
erous tribe. 

In  September,  1710,  an  English  corsair,  with  an  armed 
party,  made  a  descent  upon  Dauphin  Island,  and  pillaged 
it  of  property  said  to  have  been  worth  sixty  thousand 
livres.  During  the  years  1709  and  1710,  the  Louisiana 
colonists  suffered  severely  from  sickness  and  famine  ;  and 
in  March,  1709,  there  was  a  great  flood  in  the  Mobile  and 
other  rivers,  which  inundated  the  houses  of  Fort  Louis. 
For  this  reason  the  French  abandoned  the  fort,  and  built 
another  at  or  near  the  mouth  of  Mobile  River,  where  the 
city  now  stands. 

Such,  in  imperfect  outline,  are  the  principal  occurrences 
in  the  history  of  the  colony  of  Lower  Louisiana  during  the 
first  twelve  years  of  it  precarious  existence.  In  the  French 
colonial  annals  of  the  period,  nothing  is  more  astonishing 
than  the  number  of  canoe  and  boat  voyages  made  by  them 
to  every  part  of  the  wilderness  Valley  of  the  Mississippi. 
The  comparative  ease  and  safety  with  which  these  long 
and, difficult  journeys  were  performed  indicated  great  tact 

*See  note  in  the  preceding  chapter,  page  201. 


228  Settlement  of  Lower  Louisiana. 

and  facility  on  the  part  of  the  French  in  adapting  them- 
selves to  the  primitive  modes  of  life  and  locomotion  of  the 
aborigines,  and  in  gaining  and  retaining  their  good  will. 
What  has  been  remarked  by  the  brilliant  historian,  Pres- 
cott,  of  the  Spanish  conquerors  of  Mexico,  may  apply  with 
equal  pertinence  to  the  French  explorers  of  the  Mississippi 
Valley : 

"  The  mere  excitement  of  exploring  the  strange  and 
the  unknown  was  a  sufficient  compensation  to  the  Spanish 
adventurer  for  all  his  toils  and  trials.  It  seems  to  have  been 
ordered  by  Providence  that  such  a  race  of  men  should  exist 
contemporaneously  with  the  discovery  of  the  New  World, 
that  those  regions  should  be  brought  to  light  which  were 
beset  with  dangers  and  difficulties  so  appalling  as  might 
have  tended  to  overawe  and  discourage  the  ordinary  spirit 
of  adventure."  * 

Recurring  once  more  to  Henri  de  Tonty,  it  may  now 
be  proper  to  relate  what  little  is  known  in  regard  to  his 
last  years,  and  to  sum  up  his  character  and  career.  In  1702 
he  was  sent  by  Captain  d'Iberville  on  a  mission  to  secure 
the  Chickasaws  in  the  French  interest.  The  route  taken 
by  him  from  Mobile  is  laid  down  on  some  of  the  old  French 
maps,  but  of  the  incidents  of  his  trip,  or  the  measure  of  suc- 
cess that  attended  it,  we  have  no  knowledge.  After  this  we 
find  no  further  special  mention  of  his  name,  save  that  he  died 
in  September,  1704,  at  Fort  Louis  on  the  Mobile.f  That 
was  a  sickly  season  with  the  colony,  and  marked  by  more 
than  the  ordinary  mortality ;  and  it  seems  probable  that 
no  kind  friend  or  priest  was  with  our  hero  to  chronicle  the 
particulars  of  his  last  hours,  or  if  so  the  record  thereof  has 
perished.  At  the  time  of  his  singularly  quiet  exit  from  the 
scenes  of  busy  life,  Tonty  must  have  been  aged  about  fifty- 
four.  Though  not  an  old  man  in  point  of  years,  he  was  old 
in  experience  and  knowledge  of  the  world,  and  especially 

*Prescott's  "  History  of  the  Conquest  of  Mexico,"  vol.  3,  book  vii., 
chap.  iii. 

t  See  Charlevoix'  History  of  New  France,>ol.  Ill,  p.  201,  note  by  the 
editor. 


Conclusion  of  Tonty's  Eventful  History.  229 

in  the  number  and  variety  of  exciting  adventures  through 
which  he  had  passed,  as  well  in  Europe  as  in  America. 

He  could  hardly  be  classed  as  a  great  captain  or  leader, 
though  he  was  not  incapable  of  devising  and  executing 
the  boldest  enterprises.  As  a  first  lieutenant,  he  rendered 
invaluable  services  to  La  Salle,  and  next  to  his  chief,  con- 
tributed most  toward  the  exploration  of  the  Mississippi 
Valley.  His  courage  and  address  were  strikingly  exhibited 
in  his  intercourse  with  the  Indians,  both  in  war  and  in 
peace;  but  his  acts  were  mostly  performed  where  there 
were  few  to  observe,  and  fewer  still  to  record  them.  He 
was  "honest,  sincere,  generous,  faithful,  and  brave" — the 
beau  ideal  of  a  true  soldier.  These  admirable  qualities  en- 
deared him  to  all  his  compatriots  in  life,  and  have  made 
him  a  prime  favorite  with  all  of  La  Salle's  biographers. 

"  Very  few  names  in  French- American  history,"  writes 
Parkman,  "  are  mentioned  with  such  unanimity  of  praise 
as  that  of  Henri  de  Tonty.  Hennepin  finds  some  fault 
with  him;  but  his  censure  is  commendation.*  The  dis- 
patches of  the  governor,  Denonville,  speak  in  strong  terms 
of  his  services  in  the  Iroquois  war,  praise  his  character, 
and  declare  that  he  is  fit  for  any  bold  enterprise,  adding 
that  he  deserves  reward  from  the  king.  The  missionary 
St.  Cosme,  who  traveled  under  his  escort  in  1699,  says  of 
him  :  '  He  is  beloved  by  all  the  voyageurs.  It  was  with 
deep  regret  that  we  parted  from  him ;  he  is  the  man  who 
best  knows  the  country;  he  is  loved  and  feared  every- 
where.'" Parkman  himself  adds:  "He  seems  never  to 
have  received  the  reward  his  great  merit  deserved."  f  La 
Salle,  however,  had  done  what  he  could  for  Tonty,  and,  as 
already  noticed,  made  him  a  grant  of  lands  on  the  Ar- 
kansas River. 

He  had  a  younger  brother  named  Alphonse  de  Tonty, 
a  captain  in  the  French  service,  who  long  held  command 
at  the  post  of  Detroit,  and  against  whom  charges  of  pecu- 


*  When  the  "  Griffin  "  was  building  at  Niagara,  Hennepin  says  that 
Tonty  took  some  offense  at  his  keeping  a  journal,  and  tried  to  seize  it. 
t  "  Discovery  of  the  Great  West,"  note,  p.  441. 


230  Settlement  of  Lower  Louisiana. 

lation  were  preferred ;  but  no  stain  tarnishes  the  fair  es- 
cutcheon of  the  little,  copper-handed  Henri.  Around  his 
name  more  than  that  of  any  other  of  the  French  explorers, 
is  wreathed  a  halo  of  chivalry  and  romance,  and  only  a 
few  years  since,  he  was  made  the  hero  in  a  popular  histori- 
cal fiction,  entitled  "  The  Story  of  Tonty."  He  is  some- 
times referred  to  as  the  Chevalier  de  Tonty,  but,  though  a 
true  knight,  it  does  not  appear  that  he  ever  received  the 
honor  of  knighthood.  He  did  not  share  La  Salle's  antip- 
athy to  the  Jesuits,  but  rather  courted  their  favor,  and  in 
return  for  his  considerate  attentions,  they  heralded  his 
praises  and  helped  to  embalm  his  memory. 

As  early  as  1697,  a  book,  purporting  to  be  a  Memoir 
of  the  Sieur  de  Tonty,  was  published  in  France  under  this 
title  :  "Dernieres  Decouvertes  dans  L'Amerique  Septentrionale, 
de  M.  de  la  Salle,  par  Chevalier  de  Tonti,  Gouverneur  du  Fort 
St.  Louis  aux  Illinois.  Paris,  1697."*  Copies  of  the  same 
having  found  their  way  to  New  France,  Tonty  disavowed 
to  M.  d'Iberville  and  Father  Marest  all  responsibility  for 
the  work,  which  he  characterized  as  full  of  errors  and  ex- 
aggerations. But  then  he  had  written  a  memoir,  and  sent 
it  to  Paris  in  1693,  which  formed  the  basis  of  the  above 
spurious  publication. 

The  real  or  admitted  memoirs  of  Henri  de  Tonty  are 
embraced  in  the  valuable  collection  of  Pierre  Margry,  di- 
rector of  the  Archives  of  the  Marine  and  Colonies  at  Paris, 
under  this  general  title :  "Decouvertes  et  fitablissements  des 
Francais  dans  L'  Quest  et  Sud  de  L'Amerique  Septentrionale 
(1614-1754),  Memoirs  et  Documents  originaux" — Paris,  France, 
1877-78.  Volume  I  of  this  publication  contains  "  Voyages 
et  etat  des  Francais  sur  les  lacs  et  le  Mississippi,  sous  les  ordres 
de  M.  de  la  Salle  et  de  Tonty,  du  1678  a  1684."  Volume  II 
contains  "Lettres  of  Henri  de  Tonty  sur  ce  qu'  il  a  appris  de 
M.  de  la  Salle,  le  voyage  qu'  il  a  fait  pour  I'  aller  chercher,  et  son 
depart  prochein  pour  marcher  contre  les  Iroquois,  1686-1689." 


*  An  English  translation  of  this  memoir,  or  relation,  was  printed  in 
London  in  1698,  entitled  an  "Account  of  M.  de  la  Salle's  Last  Expedi- 
tion and  Discoveries  in  North  America,"  which  was  republished  in  New 
York  in  1814. 


Petition  of  M.  de  Tonty.  231 

Besides  the  above,  Tonty  wrote  and  addressed  to  Count 
de  Pontchartrain  a  short  memoir  of  himself  (before  noticed), 
which  is  also  printed  in  Margry's  collection,  as  well  as  else- 
where. It  is  without  date,  but  is  supposed  to  have  been 
written  in  the  year  1690  or  1691.  Following  is  an  En- 
glish version  of  this  curious  and  interesting  autobiographi- 
cal paper: 

Petition  of  the  Chevalier  de  Tonty  to  Count  de  Pontchartrain,  Minister  of 
Marine. 

Monseigneur — Henri  de  Tonty  humbly  represents  to  your  highness, 
that  he  entered  the  military  service  as  a  cadet,  and  was  employed  in 
that  capacity  in  the  years  1668  and  1669,  and  that  he  afterward  served 
as  midshipman  four  years  at  Marseilles  and  Toulon,  and  made  seven 
campaigns,  that  is,  four  on  board  ships  of  war,  and  three  in  galleys. 
While  at  Messina  he  was  made  captain,  and  in  the  interval  lieutenant, 
of  the  first  company  of  a  regiment  of  horse.  When  the  enemy  at- 
tacked the  post  of  Libisso,  his  right  hand  was  shot  away  by  a  grenade, 
and  he  was  taken  prisoner  and  conducted  to  Metasse,  ,where  he  was  de- 
tained six  months,  and  then  exchanged  for  the  son  of  the  governor  of 
that  place.  He  then  went  to  France  to  obtain  some  favor  of  his  majesty, 
and  the  king  granted  him  three  hundred  livres.  He  returned  to  the 
service  in  Sicily,  made  the  campaign  as  a  volunteer  in  the  galleys,  and 
when  the  troops  were  discharged,  being  unable  to  obtain  the  employ- 
ment he  solicited  at  court  on  account  of  the  general  peace,  he  decided, 
in  1678,  to  join  the  late  Monsieur  de  la  Salle,  in  order  to  accompany 
him  in  the  discoveries  of  Mexico,  during  which,  until  1682,  he  was  the 
only  officer  who  did  not  desert  him. 

These  discoveries  being  finished,  he  remained,  in  1683,  commandant 
of  Fort  St.  Louis  of  the  Illinois ;  and  in  1684  he  was  there  attacked  by 
two  hundred  Iroquois,  whom  he  repulsed  with  great  loss  on  their  side. 
During  the  same  year,  he  repaired  to  Quebec,  under  the  orders  of  M.  de 
la  Barre.  In  1685,  he  returned  to  the  Illinois,  according  to  the  orders 
which  he  had  received  from  the  court,  and  from  M.  de  la  Salle,  as  a 
captain  of  foot  in  a  marine  detachment  and  governor  of  Fort  St.  Louis. 
In  1686,  he  went  with  forty  men  in  canoes,  at  his  own  expense,  as  far  as 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  to  seek  for  M.  de  la  Salle.  Not  being  able  to  find 
him  there,  he  returned  to  Montreal,  and  put  himself  under  the  orders 
of  Monsieur  Denonville,*  to  engage  in  the  war  with  the  Iroquois. 

At  the  head  of  a  band  of  Indians,  in  1687,  he  proceeded  two  hun- 
dred leagues  by  land,  and  as  far  in  canoes,  and  joined  the  army,  when, 
with  these  Indians  and  a  company  of  Canadians,  he  forced  the  ambus- 
cade of  the  Tsonnonthouans.t  The  campaign  being  over,  he  returned 

*  Jacques  Rene  de  Brisay  Denonville  superseded  La  Barre,  in  1685,  as  governor 
of  Canada,  and  served  about  four  years. 
f  Or  Senecas. 


232  Petition  of  M.  de  Tonty. 

to  the  Illinois,  whence  he  departed,  in  1689,  to  go  in  search  of  the  re- 
mains of  M.  de  la  Salle's  colony ;  hut  being  deserted  by  his  men,  and 
unable  to  execute  his  design,  he  was  compelled  to  relinquish  it  when  he 
bad  arrived  within  seven  days'  march  of  the  Spaniards.  Ten  months 
were  spent  in  going  and  returning.  As  he  now  finds  himself  without 
employment,  he  prays  that,  in  consideration  of  his  voyages  and  heavy 
expenses,  and  considering,  also,  that  during  his  service  of  seven  years 
as  captain,  he  has  not  received  any  pay,  your  highness  will  be  pleased 
to  obtain  for  him  from  his  majesty  a  company,  with  which  he  may  con- 
tinue his  services  in  this  country,  where  he  has  not  ceased  to  harass  the 
Iroquois  by  enlisting  the  Illinois  against  them  in  his  majesty's  cause. 
And  he  will  continue  his  prayers  for  the  health  of  your  highness. 

HENRI  DE  TONTY. 

Nothing  can  be  more  true  than  the  account  given  by  the  Sieur  de 
Tonty  in  this  petition ;  and  should  his  majesty  reinstate  the  seven  com- 
panies which  have  been  disbanded  in  this  country,  there  will  be  justice 
in  granting  one  of  them  to  him,  or  some  other  recompense  for  the  serv- 
ices which  he  has  rendered,  and  which  he  is  now  returning  to  render  at 
Fort  St.  Louis  of  the  Illinois.  FRONTENAC. 


Change  of  Officers  in  Louisiana.  233 

CHAPTER  XII. 

1712-1717. 
LOUISIANA    UNDER    M.    CROZAT DEMISE    OF    LOUIS    XIV. 

Hitherto  the  small,  isolated  French  settlements  in  the 
Illinois,  and  those  founded  by  D'Iberville  and  Bienville  on 
the  shores  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  had  been  separate  and 
unorganized  dependencies  of  Canada,  or  New  France.  But 
they  were  now  soon  to  be  united  in  one  large  province, 
under  the  designation  of  Louisiana,  with  a  government  de- 
pendent upon  and  subordinate  to  that  of  New  France. 
This  immense  wilderness  territory  extended  from  Lake 
Michigan  and  the  Wisconsin  river  on  the  north  to  the 
Mexican  Gulf  at  the  south,  and  from  the  Ohio  Valley  on 
the  east  to  the  base  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  and  New 
Mexico  in  the  west.  It  was  already  known  to  possess  a 
temperate  and  salubrious  climate,  a  rich  and  very  produc- 
tive soil,  and  to  abound  in  fur-bearing  animals;  and  it  was 
also  believed  to  contain  metallic  ores  of  untold  value. 

In  1711  the  government  of  Louisiana  was  committed 
by  the  French  king  to  a  governor,  or  commandant-general, 
with  other  subordinate  officers.  The  chief  head-quarters  of 
this  colonial  government  was  established,  as  before,  on  the 
Mobile,  and  a  new  fort  was  completed  near  the  site  of  the 
present  city  of  Mobile.  The  Sieur  de  Muys,  who  had  been 
commissioned  governor,  died  on  the  outward  passage  from 
France ;  but  M.  Diron  d' Artaguette,  the  commissiaire  ordon- 
nateur,  who  had  arrived  in  Louisiana  in  1708,  entered  upon 
his  official  duties.*  This,  however,  was  provisional. 

In  order  to  the  more  speedy  and  systematic  devel- 
opment of  the  commercial  and  mineral  resources  of  the 


*  Bancroft's  History,  III.,  p.  343;   and  Monette's  Hist,  of  Miss. 
Valley,  I.,  209. 


234  Louisiana  under  Crozat. 

country,  Louis  XIV.,  by  letters  patent,  bearing  date  at 
Fontainbleau,  September  14,  1712,  and  registered  in  the 
Parliament  of  Paris  on  the  24th  of  September,  granted  a 
monopoly  of  the  commerce,  and  sole  direction  of  the  affairs 
of  the  new  province  (for  the  term  of  fifteen  years)  to  M. 
Antoine  Crozat,  Marquis  de  Chatel,  a  man  of  great  wealth, 
one  of  his  majesty's  councillors,  and  secretary  of  his  house- 
hold, crown  and  revenue.  This  royal  patent  constituted 
the  first  regular  charter  of  government  for  Louisiana.  It 
is  a  lengthy  and  elaborately  drawn  paper,  the  introductory 
portion  whereof  reads  as  follows  : 

"  Louis,  by  the  grace  of  G-od,  King  of  France  and  Na- 
varre, 

"  To  all  who  shall  see  these  present  letters,  greeting : 

"  The  care  we  have  always  had  to  procure  the  welfare 
and  advantage  of  our  subjects,  having  induced  us,  not- 
withstanding the  almost  continual  wars  which  we  have 
been  obliged  to  support  from  the  beginning  of  our  reign, 
to  seek  for  all  possible  opportunities  of  enlarging  and  ex- 
tending the  trade  of  our  American  colonies ;  we  did,  in  the 
year  1683  (1684),  give  our  orders  to  undertake  a  discovery 
of  the  countries  and  lands  which  are  situated  in  the 
northern  part  of  America,  between  New  France  and  New 
Mexico,  and  the  Sieur  de  la  Salle,  to  whom  we  committed 
that  enterprise,  having  had  success  enough  to  confirm  a 
belief  that  a  communication  might  be  settled  (opened)  from 
New  France  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  by  means  of  large 
rivers,  this  obliged  us  immediately  after  the  peace  of  Rys- 
wick  to  give  orders  for  the  establishing  a  colony  there,  and 
maintaining  a  garrison  which  has  kept  and  preserved  the 
possession,  we  had  taken  in  the  year  1683,  of  the  lands, 
coasts  and  islands,  which  are  situated  in  the  Gulf  of  Mex- 
ico, between  Carolina  on  the  east  and  Old  and  New  Mexico 
on  the  west. 

"  But  a  new  war  having  broke  out  in  Europe  shortly 
after,  there  was  no  possibility  till  now  of  reaping  from  that 
colony  the  advantages  that  might  have  been  expected  from 
thence,  because  the  private  men,  who  are  concerned  in  the 
sea-trade,  were  all  under  engagements  with  other  colonies, 


Crozat's  Royal  Patent.  235 

which  they  have  been  obliged  to  follow.  And,  whereas, 
upon  the  information  we  have  received  concerning  the  dis- 
position and  situation  of  the  said  countries  known  at  pres- 
ent by  the  name  of  the  Province  of  Louisiana,  we  are  of 
opinion  that  there  may  be  established  therein  a  considera- 
ble commerce,  so  much  the  more  advantageous  to  our 
kingdom  in  that  there  has  hitherto  been  a  necessity  of 
fetching  from  foreigners  the  greater  part  of  the  commodi- 
ties which  may  be  brought  from  thence,  and  because  in  ex- 
change thereof,  we  need  carry  thither  nothing  but  commod- 
ities of  the  growth  and  manufacture  of  our  own  kingdom. 

"  We  have  resolved  to  grant  the  commerce  of  the  coun- 
try of  Louisiana  to  the  Sieur  Anthony  Crozat,  our  council- 
lor, secretary  of  the  household,  crown,  and  revenue,  to 
whom  we  intrust  the  execution  of  this  project.  We  are  the 
more  readily  inclined  hereunto,  because  his  zeal  and  the 
singular  knowledge  he  has  acquired  in  maritime  commerce 
encourage  us  to  hope  for  as  good  success  as  he  has  hitherto 
had  in  the  divers  and  sundry  enterprises  he  has  gone  upon, 
and  which  have  procured  to  our  kingdom  great  quantities 
of  gold  and  silver  in  such  conjunctures  as  have  rendered 
them  very  welcome  to  us. 

"For  these  reasons,  being  desirous  to  show  our  favor 
to  him,  and  to  regulate  the  conditions  upon  which  we  mean 
to  grant  him  the  said  commerce,  after  having  deliberated 
this  affair  in  our  council,  of  our  certain  knowledge,  full 
power  and  royal  authority,  we,  by  these  presents,  signed  by 
our  hand,  have  appointed,  and  do  appoint,  the  said  Sieur 
Crozat,  solely  to  carry  on  a  trade  in  all  the  lands  possessed 
by  us,  and  bounded  by  New  Mexico,  and  by  the  English 
of  Carolina,  all  the  establishment,  ports,  havens,  rivers, 
and  principally  the  port  and  haven  of  the  Isle  Dauphine, 
heretofore  called  Massacre,  the  river  of  St.  Louis,  hereto- 
fore called  Mississippi,  from  the  edge  of  the  sea  as  far  as 
the  Illinois,  together  with  the  river  of  Saint  Philip,  here- 
tofore called  the  Missoury's,  and  of  Saint  Jerome,  hereto- 
fore called  Ouabache,  with  all  the  countries,  territories, 
lakes,  within  land,  and  the  rivers  which  fall  directly  or  in- 
directly into  that  part  of  the  river  St.  Louis." 


236  Louisiana  under  Crozat. 

The  kind  of  government  to  be  established  under  this 
patent,  and  the  powers,  duties,  and  restrictions  imposed  by 
it  upon  M.  Crozat,  are  specifically  defined  in  the  Articles, 
the  first  of  which  is  thus  worded  : 

I.  "  Our  pleasure  is  that  all  the  aforesaid  lands,  coun- 
tries, streams,  rivers,  and  islands  be  and  remain  comprised 
under  the  name  of  the  government  of  Louisiana,  which 
shall  be  dependent  upon  the  general  government  in  New 
France,  to  which  it  is  subordinate ;  and,  further,  that  all 
the  lands  which  we  possess  from  the  Illinois  be  united,  so 
far  as  occasion  requires,  to  the  general  government  of  New 
France,  and  become  part  thereof,*  reserving,  however,  the 
liberty  of  enlarging,  as  we  shall  think  fit,  the  extent  of  the 
government  of  the  said  country  of  Louisiana." 

Article  II.  granted  "to  the  said  Sieur  Crozat,  for  fifteen 
successive  years,  to  be  reckoned  from  the  day  of  enrolling 
these  presents,  a  right  and  power  to  transport  all  sorts  of 
goods  and  merchandise  from  France  into  the  said  country 
of  Louisiana,  and  to  traffic  thither  as  he  shall  think  fit." 
And  all  other  persons  or  companies  were  herein  forbid- 
den to  trade  thither,  under  any  pretense  whatever,  under 
penalty  of  confiscation  of  goods  and  ships,  and  other  more 
severe  punishments,  as  occasion  should  require. 

Article  III.  permitted  him  "  to  search  for,  open,  and 
dig  all  sorts  of  mines,  veins,  and  minerals  throughout  the 
whole  extent  of  the  said  country  of  Louisiana,  and  to  trans- 
port the  profits  thereof  into  any  part  of  France  during  the 
said  fifteen  years."  By  this  article  there  was  also  granted 
to  Crozat,  in  perpetuity,  his  heirs  and  others  claiming  un- 
der him  or  them,  the  property  of  and  in  said  mines,  veins, 
and  minerals,  which  he  should  bring  to  bear,  paying  the 
king,  in  lieu  of  all  claim,  the  fifth  part  of  all  the  gold  and 
silver,  to  be  transported  to  France  at  Crozat's  own  ex- 
pense (not  including  the  risk  of  sea  and  war),  and  the  tenth 
part^of  what  effects  he  might  draw  from  the  other  mines, 
veins,  and  minerals,  which  tenth  was  to  be  conveyed  to  the 

*This  provision  was  doubtless  intended  to  apply  to  the  northern 
part  of  the  Illinois  country. 


Crozat's  Royal  Patent.  237 

king's  magazine  in  Louisiana.  He  was  also  permitted  to 
search  for  precious  stones  and  pearls,  paying  the  one-fifth 
part  of  the  same  to  his  majesty,  in  like  manner  as  directed 
for  the  gold  and  silver. 

It  was .  further  herein  provided,  that  the  said  Crozat, 
his  heirs,  or  those  claiming  under  him  or  them  the  perpet- 
ual right  aforesaid,  should  forfeit  the  property  in  the  said 
mines,  veins,  and  minerals,  if  they  discontinued  the  work 
during  three  years,  and  that  in  such  case,  the  said  mines, 
veins,  and  minerals  should  be  fully  re-united  to  the  king's 
domain,  without  the  formality  of  any  process  of  law,  but 
only  by  an  ordinance  of  reunion  from  the  sub-delegate  of 
the  intendant  of  New  France,  who  should  be  in  the  said 
country. 

Articles  IV.,  V.,  aad  VI.  relate  to  and  regulate  the 
trade  to  be  carried  on  by  said  Crozat  with  the  French  and 
Indians  in  Louisiana,  and  also  to  the  mills  and  manufac- 
tories he  was  authorized  to  set  up  in  the  said  country. 

Article  VII.  provides,  that  the  royal  "edicts,  ordi- 
nances and  customs,  the  usages  of  the  mayoralty  and 
shrievealty  of  Paris,  shall  be  observed  for  laws  and  cus- 
toms in  the  said  country  of  Louisiana." 

The  next  succeeding  six  articles  specify  the  minimum 
number  of  ships  to  be  sent  out  annually  by  the  said  Crozat 
to  said  Louisiana,  and  oblige  him  to  transport  thither  at 
his  own  charge  such  of  the  king's  troops  as  may  be  needed 
for  garrison  duty;  exempt -from  all  duties  the  goods  and 
merchandise  by  him  exported  from  or  imported  to  the  said 
country,  but  require  the  same  to  be  deposited  in  and  de- 
livered from  the  government  custom  and  warehouses ;  and, 
further,  grant  him  the  use  of  the  felluccas  and  canoes  be- 
longing to  the  king  in  said  Louisiana,  on  condition  that  at 
the  expiration  of  his  patent,  he  shall  restore  them,  or  an 
equal  number  in  their  place,  to  the  governor  of  the  province. 

The  three  concluding  articles  of  the  patent  are  worded 
as  follows : 

XIV.  "  If,  for  the  cultures  and  plantations  which  the 
Sieur  Crozat"  is  minded  to  make,  he  finds  it  proper  to  have 
blacks  in  the  said  country  of  Louisiana,  he  may  send  a  ship 


238  Louisiana  under  Crozat. 

every  year  to  trade  directly  upon  the  coast  of  Guinea,  taking 
permission  from  the  Guinea  Company  so  to  do,  (and)  he 
may  sell  those  blacks  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  colony  of 
Louisiana ;  and  we  forbid  all  other  companies  and  persons 
whatsoever,  under  any  pretense  whatsoever,  to  introduce 
blacks  or  traffic  for  them  in  the  said  country,  nor  shall  the 
said  Sieur  Crozat  carry  blacks  elsewhere. 

XV.  "  He  shall  not  send  any  ships  into  the  said  coun- 
try of  Louisiana,  but  directly  from  France,  and  he  shall 
cause  the  said  ships  to  return  thither  again,  the  whole 
under  pain  of  confiscation  and  forfeiture  of  the  present 
privilege. 

XYI.  u  The  said  Sieur  Crozat  shall  be  obliged,  after 
the  expiration  of  the  first  nine  years  of  this  grant,  to  pay 
the  officers  and  the  garrison  which  shall  be  in  the  said 
country  during  the  six  last  years  of  the  continuance  of  the 
present  privilege. 

"  The  said  Sieur  Crozat  may  in  that  time  propose  and 
nominate  the  officers,  as  vacancies  shall  fall,  and  such 
officers  shall  be  confirmed  by  us,  if  we  approve  them."  * 

Such  are  the  material  provisions  of  the  ample  charter 
granted  by  the  king  to  M.  Antoine  Crozat,  in  the  hope 
of  receiving  thereby  rich  monetary  returns  to  replenish  his 
depleted  exchequer.  We  have  given  the  more  space  to  the 
exposition  of  this  patent,  because  under  it  was  instituted 
the  first  civil  government  for  the  Province  of  Louisiana, 
including  the  Illinois. 

To  effectuate  the  main  purpose  of  his  grant,  Crozat 
sent  out  from  France  the  necessary  miners  and  mining 
tools,  with  other  artisans  and  laborers,  and  some  slaves 
from  St.  Domingo,  to  begin  prospecting  for  the  precious 
metals. 

On  May  17,  1713,  a  large  French  ship  arrived  in  the 
waters  of  Louisiana,  having  on  board  Antoine  de  la  Mothe 
Cadillac,t  the  newly  appointed  governor  of  the  colony,  his 

*  For  the  full  text  of  Crozat's  Letters  Patent,  see  "  Historical  Col- 
lections of  Louisiana,"  vol.  III. 

t  La  Mothe,  or  La  Motte,  Cadillac  was  born  of  noble  parentage  in 
Gascony,  France,  about  the  year  1666.  Sailing  thence  to  America,  he 


Officers  of  Crozat's  Government.  239 

family,  and  M.  Duclos,  intendant  commissary.  By  the 
same  vessel  was  also  brought  a  commission  naming  Bien- 
ville  as  lieutenant-governor.  The  coming  of  Cadillac  and 
his  associates  would  have  had  a  more  salutary  influence  on 
the  future  of  the  colony,  if  he  and  Bienville  had  acted  in 
concert ;  but  they  were  mutually  jealous  of  each  other  from 
the  outset,  and  each  had  his  party  of  followers,  which 
proved  detrimental  to  the  interests  of  both. 

At  this  early  and  unpromising  stage  of  her  history  as 
a  colony,  although  over  two  thousand  persons  had  been 
transported  thither,  Southern  Louisiana  contained  not  more 
than  four  hundred  whites,  twenty  negro  slaves,  and  about 
three  hundred  head  of  horned  cattle,  which  latter  had 
mostly  been  imported  from  St.  Domingo. 

The  Sieur  Crozat  expected  to  realize  handsome  profits 
from  the  fur-trade  with  the  Indians,  and  if  he  had  confined 
himself  to  that  alone,  he  would  have  succeeded  better  in 
the  end  ;  but  the  possibility  of  sudden  wealth  from  the  dis- 
covery of  riph  mines  of  gold  and  silver  was  what  chiefly 
engaged  the  attention  of  his  agents,  and  induced  them  to 
the  most  lavish  outlay  of  capital.  To  accomplish  this  ob- 
ject, prospecting  parties  were  sent  out  to  various  parts  of 
the  country,  and  small  posts  were  established  on  the  upper 
waters  of  Red  River,  the  "Washita,  the  Yazoo,  the  Coosa,* 
the  Cumberland  (near  Nashville),  and  on  other  southern 
rivers.  Indeed,  to  such  a  degree  were  Crozat  and  his  part- 
ners aft'ected  by  this  mania  for  the  precious  metals,  that 
they  often  magnified  insignificant  findings  into  supposed 
realities  of  great  value.  But  though  gold  and  silver  were 
not  to  be  found,  either  by  washing,  digging  or  boring, 
large  deposits  of  the  less  valuable  ores  of  lead  and  iron  were 
found  in  what  is  now  south-eastern  Missouri.  The  mining 
adventurers  in  this  wild  region  drew  their  principal  sub- 
sistence from  the  French  settlements  of  Kaskaskia  and  Ca- 


served  as  a  captain  in  Acadia,  and  in  1694  was  sent  by  Frontenac  to 
command  at  Mackinac ;  after  which,  in  1701,  he  founded  the  military 
post  of  Detroit.  During  his  five  years'  stay  in  Louisiana,  he  not  only 
officiated  as  governor,  but  was  a  partner  in  Crozat's  commercial  ven- 
tures. His  name  is  perpetuated  in  a  thriving  lumber  city  of  Michigan. 
*  That  on  the  Coosa  was  called  Fort  Toulouse. 


240  Louisiana  under  Crozat. 

hokia,  to  which  they  added  such  of  their  number  as  pre- 
ferred to  cultivate  the  soil  and  a  fixed  abode  to  the  more 
precarious  pursuit  of  mining.  Hence,  from  this  source,  the 
Illinois  colony  derived  a  considerable  accession  of  European 
bone  and  muscle.* 

Under  the  auspices  of  M.  Crozat  an  attempt  was  made 
to  open  trade  with  the  Spaniards  at  Yera  Cruz,  by  sending 
thither  a  vessel  laden  with  a  valuable  cargo  of  merchandise, 
but  it  was  not  allowed  to  land  either  there  or  at  any  other 
Mexican  port.  The  occupancy  of  Louisiana  by  the  French 
had  been  regarded  by  Spain  from  the  first  as  an  encroach- 
ment upon  her  territory,  and  a  menace  to  her  supremacy  in 
the  Gulf;  and,  therefore,  after  three  years  of  ineffectual  ne- 
gotiations with  the  viceroy  of  Mexico,  Crozat  was  obliged 
to  relinquish  his  scheme  of  commercial  relations  with  the 
Spanish  ports.  Another  project  was  to  establish  trade 
overland  with  the  interior  provinces  of  Mexico,  but  in  this 
case,  after  repeated  efforts,  he  also  failed,  his  goods  being 
seized  and  confiscated  and  his  agents  imprisoned.  Sordid 
the  fur-trade  with  the  Indians  prove  so  remunerative  as 
had  been  anticipated.  English  agents  from  Carolina  were 
active  in  their  efforts  to  incite  the  Choctaws  and  Chicka- 
saws  against  the  French,  and,  wherever  it  was  practica- 
ble, they  controlled  the  fur-traffic  by  furnishing  goods  to 
the  Indians  at  reduced  prices.  Agriculture,  the  only  source 
of  permanent  prosperity,  was  of  course  neglected.  At  the 
end  of  four  years,  he  had  expended  about  425,000  livres 
and  realized  only  300,000,f  and  he  found  himself  unable  to 
meet  his  liabilities  or  pay  his  men. 

On  the  23d  of  August,  1717,  M.  Crozat,  despairing  of  any 
better  success  in  the  future,  surrendered  his  vested  rights 
and  privileges  to  the  young  king,  Louis  XV.,  who  then  oc- 
cupied the  throne  of  France  under  the  regency  of  the  Duke 
of  Orleans,  and  thereupon  the  government  of  Louisiana 
reverted  solely  to  the  officers  appointed  by  the  crown. 

*At  a  later  period  the  French  opened  and  worked  lead  mines,  to 
some  extent,  on  the  Upper  Mississippi,  about  Galena  and  Dubuque. 
t  Davidson  and  Stuve's  Hist.  111.,  p.  114. 


Bienville  and  the  Natchez.  241 

During  the  five  years  of  his  connection  with  the  province, 
although  it  was  widely  explored,  the  growth  of  the  French 
settlements  therein  was  inconsiderable,  and  but  little  was 
accomplished  for  their  real  benefit.  The  principal  pros- 
perity they  enjoyed  grew  out  of  the  enterprise  of  individual 
merchants  and  traders,  who,  despite  the  restrictions  of 
Crozat's  monopoly,  managed  to  carry  on  a  limited  trade 
with  the  natives  and  with  some  of  the  neighboring  European 
colonies.  At  the  close  of  this  epoch  the  colonists  and 
adventurers  in  Upper  and  Lower  Louisiana,  including  the 
king's  troops  sent  thither  to  protect  them,  did  not  exceed 
fifteen  hundred  souls. 

From  the  foregoing  review  of  the  Parisian  Crozat's 
operations  in  Louisiana,  we  turn  to  chronicle  certain  civil 
and  military  events  which  transpired  in  the  province  during 
that  period.  In  February,  1716,  Lieut.  Bienville  departed 
up  the  Mississippi,  under  the  orders  of  Governor  Cadillac, 
on  an  expedition  to  the  Natchez  nation,  where  some  French 
hunters  and  traders  had  already  found  a  lodgment. 
Having  learned  that  five  Frenchmen  had  been  slain,  and 
that  six  more  were  still  prisoners  in  the  hands  of  the  Nat- 
chez, Bienville  dissembled  his  knowledge  of  the  matter 
until  he  had  induced  the  war-chiefs  to  meet  him  in 
council,  when  they  gave  up  their  six  prisoners.  He  then 
reproached  -them  with  the  murder  of  the  other  Frenchmen, 
and  refused  to  treat  with  them  until  the  guilty  authors 
should  be  surrendered  up  to  him.  They  replied  that  it  was 
not  possible  for  sun-chiefs  and  men  of  valor  to  thus  give 
up  their  people.  Upon  this  they  were  immediately  put  in 
irons  and  imprisoned  under  guard.  On  the  next  day  the 
prisoner  chiefs  requested  permission  to  send  a  deputation 
to  their  grand  chief,  desiring  him  to  send  the  head  of  the 
chief  Whitehead,  who  wa&  the  principal  murderer.  Bien- 
ville having  given  his  consent,  the  deputation  was  sent,  and 
returned,  not  with  the  head  of  that  chief,  but  with  another 
who  was  willing  to  devote  himself  to  death  in  place  of 
Whitehead.  This  and  other  similar  offers  the  French  com- 
mander firmly  declined. 
16 


242  Louisiana  under  Crozat. 

In  the  meantime  he  received  a  letter  from  a  Canadian 
among  the  .Natchez,  informing  him  that  six  pirogues  of  his 
countrymen  were  on  their  way  down  the  river,  and  that, 
ignorant  of  this  rupture  with  the  Indians,  they  would  fall 
into  the  hands  of  the  latter.  Bienville  promptly  dispatched 
a  canoe  from  his  camp,  which  passed  the  Natchez  village 
unperceived,  and,  meeting  the  Canadian  voyageurs,  apprised 
them  of  their  danger.  Not  wishing  to  resort  to  extreme 
measures  against  the  Natchez,  Bienville  finally  proposed 
peace  to  them  on  condition  that  they  should  put  to  death 
Big-beard,  one  of  the  murderers,  and  help  to  huild 
a  fort  for  the  French;  which  terms  they  complied 
with.  The  fort  was  erected  on  an  elevated  bluff  overlook- 
ing the  river,  and  on  the  site  that  had  been  previously 
selected  by  M.  d'Iberville.  It  was  named  Rosalie  in  com- 
pliment to  the  wife  of  Count  Pontchartrain,  formerly  Sec- 
retary of  State  for  the  Colonies.  Thus  was  laid  the  mili- 
tary foundation  of  the  present  city  of  Natchez, — the  oldest 
permanent  wrhite  settlement  on  the  Lower  Mississippi,  save 
that  of  Arkansas  Post,  which  was  never  a  place  of  much 
importance.  Having  re-established  peaceful  relations  with 
the  Natchez  nation,  Bienville  stationed  a  garrison  at  Fort 
Eosalie  to  maintain  it,  and  returned  down  the  river  with 
the  rest  of  his  men  to  the  French  head-quarters. 

Late  in  August,  1716,  Louis  Juchereau  de  St.  Denis  re- 
turned to  Fort  Louis  on  the  Mobile  from  an  extraordinary 
journey  overland  to  Mexico,  or  New  Spain.  Two  years  be- 
fore;  in  1714,  he  had  been  sent  by  Governor  Cadillac  to 
the  middle  provinces  of  Mexico  for  the  double  purpose  of 
finding  a  market  for  Crozat's  goods,  and  of  forestalling  the 
action  of  the  Spaniards,  who  were  supposed  to  be  meditat- 
ing an  establishment  at  the  Natchitoches.  Having  been 
supplied  by  the  governor  with  ten  thousand  livres  worth  of 
merchantable  goods,  St.  Denis,  with  twenty-four  Cana- 
dians, and  an  equal  number  of  southern  Indians,  ascended 
the  Mississippi  and  Red  River  to  the  village  of  the  Natchi- 
toches,  located  on  an  island  in  the  latter  stream.  Arrived 
thither,  he  at  first  employed  his  men  in  building  some  log 
cabins  for  the  use  of  those  whom  he  intended  to  leave  be- 


St.  Denis'  Overland  Journey  to  Mexico.  243 

hind.  Then,  taking  with  him  twelve  picked  Canadians,  and 
a  few  active  young  Indians,  all  well  armed  and  mounted, 
he  quit  the  low  valley  of  Red  River,  and  boldly  struck 
across  the  far-spreading  plains  to  the  westward.  After 
twenty  days'  march,  he  reached  a  tribe  of  the  Cenis  nation, 
in  the  vicinity  of  Trinity  River.  Being  furnished  by  them 
with  fresh  guides,  the  leader  and  his  troop  traveled  thence 
about  one  hundred  and  fifty  leagues  to  the  south-west, 
when  they  arrived  at  the  Spanish  settlement  of  San  Juan 
Bautista,  or  Presidio  del  Norte,  situate  some  two  leagues 
beyond  the  Rio  Grande.  Here  St.  Denis  was  well  received 
by  the  Spanish  commandant,  Don  Pedro  de  Vilescas,  who 
took  him  and  the  principal  men  of  his  party  to  his  own 
quarters,  and  assigned  lodgings  for  the  remainder. 

It  was  now  near  the  close  of  the  year  1714,  and,  after 
a  few  days'  rest,  St.  Denis  began  negotiations  with  Don 
Pedro  for  the  opening  of  a  regulated  trade  with  the  French 
colonists  of  Louisiana.  But  the  Spanish  officer  informed 
him  that  he  could  do  nothing  without  the  permission  of  his 
immediate  superior,  the  governor  of  Caouis  (Coahuila),  to 
whom  he  sent  a  courier  for  orders.  The  governor  de- 
cided that  St.  Denis  would  have  to  go  to  the  capital  and 
see  the  viceroy  in  person.  To  this  he  assented,  but  was  in 
no  hurry  about  starting,  having  meantime  become  enam- 
ored of  Dona  Maria,  the  handsome  daughter  of  Don  Pedro. 
At  length,  on  setting  out  from  Caouis,  he  wrote  to  the 
Frenchmen-at-arms  whom  he  had  left  at  Presidio  del  Norte 
to  return  to  the  Natchitoches.  He  made  the  journey  south- 
ward to  the  city  of  Mexico  (distant  over  two  hundred 
leagues)  with  M.  Jallot,  one  of  his  French  companions,  and 
was  escorted  by  a  body  of  twenty -five  Spanish  horsemen. 
Upon  his  arrival  at  the  capital,  St.  Denis  presented  his  cre- 
dentials to  the  viceroy,  who,  after  perusing  them,  sent  him 
to  prison,  where  he  was  detained  for  three  months,  and 
might  have  been  kept  in  "durance  vile"  much  longer,  if  it 
had  not  been  for  the  personal  intercession  of  some  French 
officers  in  the  service  of  New  Spain.  After  his  liberation 
he  was  generously  treated  by  the  viceroy,  who  spared  no 
effort  to  induce  him  to  enter  the  military  service  of  Spain. 


244  Louisiana  under  Crozat. 

Among  other  arguments  used  for  this  purpose,  the  viceroy 
told  him  that  he  was  already  a  half  Spaniard,  since  he 
sought  the  hand  of  the  daughter  of  Don  Pedro  de  Vilescas, 
and  was  to  marry  her  upon  his  return  to  San  Juan. 

Prior  to  his  departure  from  the  city  of  Mexico,  St. 
Denis  is  said  to  have  concerted  a  plan  with  the  viceroy  for 
the  planting  of  Roman  Catholic  missions  among  the  Indian 
nations  in  Texas.  Quitting  the  Mexican  capital  about  the 
26th  of  October,  1715,  he  journeyed,  with  a  small  escort, 
back  to  Presidio  del  Norte.  Here  he  performed  a  valuable 
service  to  the  Spanish  commandant,  by  preventing  the  re- 
moval of  certain  dissatisfied  tribes  from  the  Rio  Grande, 
whose  trade  and  friendship  was  of  importance  to  the  Span- 
iards. Soon  after  this  he  married  Don  Pedro's  daughter, 
with  whom  he  lived  happily  for  six  months,  when  it  be- 
came necessary  for  him  to  return  to  Louisiana.  But  no 
sooner  had  he  arrived  at  the  French  head-quarters,  and  re- 
ported to  Governor  Cadillac  the  result  of  his  lengthened 
mission,  than  he  made  haste  to  join  another  land  expedi- 
tion to  Mexico.  Arrived  thither,  he  repeated  some  of  his 
former  experiences,  and  was  again  imprisoned  by  the  Span- 
ish authorities,  but  managed  to  effect  his  escape. 

Returning  to  Louisiana,  in  1719,  St.  Denis  was  after- 
ward appointed  commandant  of  the  post  of  Natchitoches, 
where  he  was  joined  by  his  wife  and  family,  and  where  we 
shall  find  him  taking  part  in  the  Natches  war.  He  was, 
indeed,  one  of  the  most  remarkable  personages  of  his  time 
in  the  province,  and  the  narrative  of  his  Mexican  adven- 
tures reads  more  like  the  story  of  a  paladin  of  romance 
than  sober  reality.  It  is  true  that  he  accomplished  little  or 
nothing  in  the  way  of  establishing  commercial  intercourse 
with  the  arrogant  and  exclusive  hidalgos  of  Mexico,  yet 
his  long  journeys  back  and  forth  across  the  country  added 
greatly  to  the  geographical  knowledge  of  the  French,  and 
enabled  them  to  extend  and  confirm  their  alliances  with 
the  principal  aboriginal  tribes  of  Texas.* 


*From  Charlevoix'  History  of    New  France   (vol.  vi.,  p.  12  and 
),  we  glean  some  further  particulars  in  regard  to  the  checkered  life 


Recall  of  Governor  Cadillac.  245 

In  January,  1717,  soon  after  the  return  of  St.  Denis 
from  his  first  overland  journey  to  Mexico,  the  governor 
sent  a  sergeant  with  a  few  soldiers  to  take  possession  of 
the  before-mentioned  island  of  Natchitoches,  and  to  estab- 
lish a  military  post  there;  it  being  regarded  by  the' French 
authorities  not  only  as  a  place  of  strategic  importance,  but 
as  a  good  location  for  interior  trade  with  the  natives  of 
that  region.  This  was  the  commencement  of  the  still  ex- 
isting town  of  Natchitoches. 

On  the  9th  of  March,  in  that  year,  M.  de  la  Mothe 
Cadillac,  having  served  almost  four  years  as  governor  of 
Louisiana,  and  failing  to  give  satisfaction,  was  relieved  by 
M.  de  L'Epinay,  who  arrived  with  three  ships,  bringing 
out  some  fifty  immigrants,  and  three  companies  of  infantry 
to  fill  the  depleted  garrisons  of  the  province.  The  retiring 
executive  returned  by  the  same  vessels  to  France,  where  he 
died  in  the  following  year.  Bienville,  however,  still  re- 
tained the  position  of  lieutenant-governor,  and,  about 
this  time  received  the  decoration  of  the  Cross  of  St.  Louis. 

Heretofore  the  business  of  agriculture  had  been  almost 
totally  neglected  by  the  colonists,  and  they  had  often  ex- 
perienced a  partial  famine  in  consequence  of  such  neglect. 
It  was  now  proposed  to  form  an  agricultural  settlement  on 
the  banks  of  the  Mississippi  River,  and  to  raise  necessary 
provisions  for  the  consumption  of  the  settlers.  The  grow- 
ing of  articles  for  export,  such  as  rice,  indigo  and  tobacco, 
was  also  contemplated,  for  which  the  soil  was  found  well 
adapted. 

Ifr  was  during  the  year  1717,  while  looking  for  a  suita- 

of  Louis  Juchereau  de  St.  Denis.  Born  in  Quebec,  Canada,  September 
18,  1676,  he  was  a  son  of  Nicholas  Juchereau  Sieur  de  St.  Denis,  or 
Denys,  and  an  uncle  of  the  wife  of  M.  d'Iberville.  In  1720,  after  his 
second  expedition  to  Mexico,  the  Chevalier  de  St.  Denis  received  the 
brevet  of  captain,  and  the  insignia  of  the  Cross  of  St.  Louis— a  military 
order  instituted  by  Louis  XIV.,  in  1693,  for  the  encouragement  of  the 
officers  of  the  army  and  navy.  In  1721,  he  was  sent  with  a  detachment 
of  regular  troops  to  Natchitoches,  and  remained  there  in  command  of 
that  post.  The  date  of  his  death  is  not  determined,  though  it  was  sub- 
sequent to  the  year  1731.  It  is  told  that  he  died  much  regretted  by  the 
Indians  of  the  Red  River  Valley,  with  whose  language  and  customs  he 
was  entirely  familiar,  and  over  whom  he  wielded  an  extensive  influence. 


246  Demise  of  Louis  XIV. 

ble  location  on  the  Mississippi,  to  become  the  nucleus  of 
the  projected  agricultural  and  commercial  settlement,  that 
Bienville  selected  the  tract  whereon  New  Orleans  now 
stands,  lying  on  the  north  bank  of  the  river,  where  it 
makes  a  great  curve  to  the  east,  and  distant  one  hundred 
and  five  miles  from  its  mouth.  The  situation  was  low  and 
swampy,  and  by  no  means  inviting  to  the  superficial  ob- 
server; but  with  its  proximity  to  the  waters  of  Lakes 
Borgne  and  Pontchartrain,  and  with  a  deep  river  channel 
to  the  sea,  it  promised  ultimately  to  become  a  commercial 
mart, — considerations  which  no  doubt  influenced  its  choice. 
Having  fixed  upon  the  site,  Bienville  afterward  caused  it 
to  be  surveyed,  and  sent  a  party  of  woodmen  there  to 
make  a  clearing.  Such  appears  to  have  been  the  origin  of 
that  great  southern  emporium,  of  whose  gradual  rise  into 
prominence  and  importance,  we  shall  have  occasion  to 
further  speak  in  the  sequel. 

As  a  not  inappropriate  conclusion  to  the  present  chap- 
ter, some  general  notice  may  here  be  taken  of  the  demise 
and  character  of  Louis  XIV.,  the  Grand  Monarque,  under 
whose  authority  all  the  discoveries,  explorations,  and  set- 
tlements by  the  French  in  the  Mississippi  Valley  had 
hitherto  been  effected.  On  September  1,  1715,  after  a  short 
illness,  the  great  king  breathed  his  last  in  his  palace  at 
Versailles,  having  reached  the  advanced  age  of  seventy- 
seven,  and  reigned  seventy-two  years.  During  the  three 
preceding  years,  he  had  been  severely  tried  by  domestic 
afflictions.  His  ambitious  second  wife,  Madame  de  Main- 
tenon,  whom  he  had  privately  married,  went  into  voluntary 
retirement.  He  lost  by  death  his  son  and  heir  apparent, 
his  grandson  and  eldest  great-grandson  ;  so  that  his  young- 
est great-grandson  succeeded  to  the  crown  under  the  title 
of  Louis  XV. 

Louis  the  Fourteenth  had  fallen  heir  to  the  throne  of 
France  in  1643,  when  less  than  six  years  old,  and  during 
his  minority  his  mother  was  regent  of  the  kingdom,  with 
Cardinal  Mazarin  as  her  chief  councilor.  The  reign  of  this 
Louis  was  the  longest  and,  in  many  respects,  the  most  il- 


His  Reign  and  Character.  247 

lustrious  in  the  annals  of  France.  Among  the  princes  of 
his  time,  he  stood  pre-eminent  in  commanding  presence,  in 
regal  dignity,  and  in  absolute  power.  '  After  the  death  of 
Mazarin,  in  1661,  he  had  no  prime  minister,  but  he  wisely 
chose  great  men  for  his  assistants  and  ministers  of  govern- 
ment. Under  him  Colbert  and  Louvois  long  filled  the  first 
offices  of  state ;  the  former  being  the  great  promoter  of 
French  industry  and  manufactures,  while  the  latter  was  his 
able  and  successful  minister  of  war.  His  foremost  gen- 
erals were  Turenne,  Conde,  and  Luxembourg,  while  Vau- 
ban  was  his  chief  military  engineer.  The  younger  Mansard 
was  made  head  architect  and  superintendent  of  the  royal 
buildings. 

During  his  reign,  Paris  and  its  environs  were  adorned 
with  parks  and  public  edifices  to  an  extent  previously  un- 
known. The  most  noted  of  these  were  the  Observatoire,  the 
Church  of  Val  de  Grace,  the  Colonnade  of  the  Louvre,  the 
Hotel  des  Invalides,  the  completion  of  the  Palais  Royal,  the 
Place  des  Victoires,  the  Place  Vendome,  and  additions  to  the 
palace  of  the  Tuileries ;  but,  above  all  others  in  extent  and 
magnificence,  is  the  palace  and  garden  of  Versailles.*  The 
architecture  of  these  various  buildings,  like  the  dress  of 
that  age,  is  profusely  ornate,  and  wanting  in  pure  taste. 

Louis  XIV.  was  a  munificent  patron  of  literature, 
science  and  the  arts,  and  some  of  the  most  celebrated 
writers  of  France  flourished  under  his  reign.  The  French 
tongue  was  then  cultivated  and  polished  to  such  a  degree 
that  it  became  the  language  of  court  and  diplomatic  circles 
throughout  Europe.  He  made  his  capital  the  gayest  and 
most  luxurious  in  Europe.  He  caused  the  court  of  Ver- 
sailles to  be  every-where  admired  and  imitated  as  a  model 
of  taste  and  elegance,  and  of  a  princely  and  refined  style 

*  "  It  was  on  this  splendid  palace  that  Louis  XIV.  lavished  the  wealth 
of  his  people,  to  give  expression  to  his  own  grandeur  and  selfish  ambi- 
tion. It  was  built  on  the  site  of  the  hunting  lodge  of  Louis  XIII.,  ten 
miles  from  Paris,  which  city  Louis  disliked,  because  he  saw  there  only 
the  edifices  and  monuments  of  other  kings.  The  buildings  constituting 
the  palace,  undertaken  in  1661,  were  committed  in  1670  to  the  architect 
Mansard,  aqd  their  construction  was  continued  to  the  end  of  the  reign."— 
Anderson's  History  of  France. 


248  Demise  of  Louis  XI V. 

of  living.  But  as  he  sought  only  the  gratification  of  his 
pride  and  vanity,  his  love  of  pageantry  and  pleasure,  and 
his  thirst  for  dominion  and  renown,  his  personal  rule  ex- 
tinguished all  civil  freedom,  sound  morals  and  manly  sen- 
timents among  his  subjects.  Court  favor,  therefore,  became 
the  aim  and  end  of  all  individual  effort,  and  adroit  flattery 
was  the  surest  way  to  attain  it.  A  venal  age,  virtue  and 
merit  were  but  lightly  esteemed.  In  fine,  such  were  the 
baneful  effects  of  his  policy  and  example,  that  from  his 
reign  has  been  dated  the  decline  of  the  great  French  mon- 
archy, though  it  was  accelerated  by  the  incapacity  of  his 
successors. 

The  latter  years  of  Louis'  imperial  sway  were  clouded 
by  reverses  to  his  armies  in  the  field,  and  by  a  spirit  of 
bigoted  intolerance  in  his  civil  administration.  His  revo- 
cation of  the  Edict  of  Nantes*  was  as  impolitic  as  it  was 
unjustifiable,  and  his  stern  persecution  of  the  Protestant 
Huguenots  drove  from  his  kingdom  nearly  half  a  million 
of  his  most  industrious  and  useful  subjects.  But  religious 
toleration,  as  now  generally  understood  and  approved,  was 
in  that  age  little  known,  and  still  less  practiced,  on  the  con- 
tinent of  Europe.  The  king  believed  and  acted  upon  the 
theory  that  unity  of  religious  faith  was  essential  to  the 
stability  of  his  throne.  His  ruling  principle  of  government 
was  embodied  in  the  famous  aphorism  ascribed  to  him — Le 
etat  c'  est  moi,  or,  "I  am  the  state.-"  f 

To  the  readers  of  English  history  Louis  XIV.  is  re- 
membered as  the  generous  friend  and  supporter  of  James 
II.,  the  dethroned  Catholic  king  of  England. 

Among  the  best  known  French  works  on  this  great 
prince's  reign  are  Voltaire's  Siecle  de  Louis  XIV.,  St. 
Simon's  Memoirs,  and  Louis  XIV.  et  son  Siecle,  by  Alexan- 
der Dumas. 


*  This  famous  edict  had  been  enacted  by  Henry  IV.,  in  April,  1598, 
and  being  in  the  nature  of  a  compromise,  it  was  deemed  irrevocable. 
The  order  for  its  revocation  was  issued  October  22,  1685. 

t  The  great  king  may  never  have  uttered  these  words,  though  they 
perfectly  express  his  sentiments ;  for,  in  1666,  he  wrote :  "  It  is  God's 
will  that  whoever  is  born  a  subject  should  not  reason,  but  obey." — 
Parkman's  Old  Regime  in  Canada,  p.  172. 


Sketch  of  John  Law.  249 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

1717-1723. 
FRENCH    FINANCES,    AND    LAW'S    MISSISSIPPI    COMPANY. 

The  long  wars  and  general  extravagance  of  Louis 
XIV.  had  exhausted  France,  and  entailed  upon  her  a 
debt  estimated  at  not  less  than  two  billions  of  livres, 
or  about  four  hundred  millions  of  dollars.  The  people 
were  oppressively  taxed,  but  still  the  surplus  revenues  of 
the  kingdom  were  wholly  inadequate  to  meet  the  annual 
interest  on  the  indebtedness.  The  consequence  was  that 
the  government  stocks  sank  to  a  merely  nominal  value, 
and  its  credit  was  depressed  to  the  lowest  ebb.  In  this, 
dilemma,  while  the  regency  was  casting  about  for  some 
means  of  financial  relief,  John  Law,  the  famous  financier- 
adventurer,  appeared  at  the  Court  of  Versailles  with  his 
"  magnificent  credit  system." 

John  Law,  eldest  son  of  a  Scotch  silversmith  and 
banker,  was  born  in  Edinburgh  in  April,  1671.  He  re- 
ceived a  liberal  education,  and  at  an  early  age  discovered 
a  strong  bent  for  finance.  After  the  death  of  his  father, 
and  before  attaining  to  his  majority,  he  became  notorious 
as  a  gambler  and  debauchee.  Having  unhappily  killed  an 
antagonist  named  Wilson,  in  a  duel,  he  fled  to  France  to 
avoid  arrest.  From  thence  he  passed  into  Holland,  where 
he  made  a  special  study  of  banking  in  the  great  banking 
house  at  Amsterdam.  After  perfecting  his  theory  he  re- 
turned to  Edinburg  in  1700,  and  shortly  published  a  work 
advocating  the  establishment  of  a  bank  which  should  hold 
all  the  sources  of  revenue  of  the  state  in  its  own  hands, 
and,  treating  them  as  capital,  should  issue  notes  thereon, 
and  at  the  same  time  make  a  profit  by  discounting  bills 
and  notes.  His  plan  of  banking  was  ridiculed  by  the 
British  wits  of  the  day,  and  was  discarded  by  the  Scottish 


250         French  Finances,  and  Law's  Mississippi  Co. 

Parliament.  He  then  went  with  his  scheme  to  Paris, 
where  it  attracted  considerable  attention,  but  was  utterly  re- 
jected by  the  old  king  and  his  comptroller-general  of  finance. 
Law  sojourned  for  awhile  in  Paris,  leading  a  gay  and 
luxurious  existence,  playing  high  and  winning  large  sums 
of  money.  But  his  prosperous  career  was  interrupted  by 
a  message  from  the  chief  of  police,  ordering  him  to  quit 
Paris,  on  the  ground  that  he  "was  rather  too  skillful  at 
the  game  which  he  had  introduced."  For  several  years 
succeeding  he  shifted  his  abode  from  one  state  to  another 
in  Italy  and  Germany,  offering  his  scheme  of  finance  to 
every  court  that  he  visited,  though  without  success.  The 
Duke  of  Savoy,  afterward  King  of  Sardinia,  was  much 
impressed  with  his  project,  but,  after  considering  it  for  a 
time,  remarked :  "  I  am  not  sufficiently  powerful  to  ruin 
myself." 

Upon  the  decease  of  the  great  Louis,  in  1715,  John 
Law  returned  to  Paris  with  a  fortune  of  half  a  million  of 
dollars,  which  he  had  acquired  by  gambling.  Louis  XV. 
was  then  but  a  child,  and  during  his  non-age  the  govern- 
ment was  administered  by  Philippe,  Due  d'  Orleans,*  as 
regent.  The  finances  of  France  being  at  this  time  in  a 
bankrupt  condition,  Law  soon  gained  a  hearing  at  court 
for  his  favorite  banking  project.  The  regent  had  before 
been  favorably  impressed  with  the  scheme,  which  suited  his 
bold  and  reckless  spirit,  and  his  taste  for  profligate  ex- 
travagance. Accordingly,  on  the  2d  of  May,  1716,  despite 
the  opposition  of  his  ministers  and  the  Parliament  of  Paris, 
he  granted  letters  patent  to  Law,  authorizing  him  and  his 
brother  William  to  establish  a  bank  of  deposit,  discount 
and  circulation,  under  the  firm  name  of  "  Law  and  Com- 
pany," to  continue  for  twenty  years.  The  capital  of  this 
institution  was  fixed  at  six  millions  of  livres,  divided  into 
shares  of  five  hundred  livres  each,  which  were  to  be  sold 
for  twenty -five  per  cent  of  coin,  and  seventy -five  per  cent, 
of  the  public  securities.  The  coin,  which  had  been  already 
debased  by  an  arbitrary  edict  of  the  regent,  was  held  in 

*  He  was  a  cousin  or  second  cousin  of  the  young  king. 


Law's  Banking  Scheme.  251 

the  bank  for  the  redemption  of  its  notes.  Inasmuch  as 
the  bank  accepted  at  par  government  securities,  on  which 
there  was  a  discount  of  seventy-eight  per  cent.,  and  as 
there  was  a  general  lack  of  private  credit,  its  stock  was 
soon  taken,  and  a  very  lucrative  business  was  established. 
Thus,  while  the  bank  was  limited  in  its  operations,  and 
while  its  paper  really  represented  the  specie  in  its  vaults, 
it  seemed  to  realize  all  that  had  been  promised  for  it.  It 
speedily  acquired  public  confidence,  and  produced  an  activ- 
ity in  commerce  that  was  unknown  under  the  preceding 
reign.  'Moreover,  the  bills  of  the  bank  bore  an  interest, 
and  as  it  was  stipulated  that  they  would  be  of  invariable 
value,  and  as  hints  had  been  adroitly  circulated  that  coin 
would  experience  successive  diminution  in  value,  every 
body  hastened  to  the  bank  to  exchange  gold  and  silver 
for  the  paper  money.  In  a  few  months  the  bank  shares 
arose  enormously,  and  the  amount  of  its  notes  in  circulation 
exceeded  one  hundred  and  ten  millions  of  livres. 

Hitherto  all  had  gone  on  well  enough,  and  all  might 
have  continued  to  go  well,  if  the  paper  system  had  not 
been  further  expanded.  But  Law  had  yet  to  develop  the 
grandest  part  of  his  scheme.  He  had  yet  to  disclose  his 
ideal  world  of  speculation,  his  El  Dorado  of  unlimited 
wealth.  His  financial  theory  was,  that  the  currency  of  a 
country  is  simply  the  representative  of  its  moving  wealth, 
and  that  this  representative  need  not  possess  any  intrinsic 
value,  as  in  the  case  of  gold  and  silver,  but  might  consist 
of  paper,  or  any  other  substance  which  can  be  conveniently 
handled.  He  held  that  while  there  was  no  standard  of 
prices  or  money,  credit  was  every  thing,  and  that  a  state 
might  safely  treat  even  possible  future  profits  as  the  basis  of  a 
paper  currency.  The  English  had  brought  the  vast  imag- 
inary commerce  of  the  South  Seas  in  aid  of  their  banking 
operations  ;  and  Law  sought  to  bring,  as  a  powerful  auxil- 
iary of  his  bank,  the  whole  trade  of  the  Mississippi  Valley. 
To  this  end  he  now  produced  his  Mississippi  scheme,  which 
was  to  make  him  a  conspicuous  figure  in  the  colonial  an- 
nals of  Louisiana  and  Illinois.  The  prolific  resources  and 
possibilities  of  Louisiana  still  filled  the  imaginations  of  the 


252         French  Finances,  and  Law's  Mississippi  Co. 

French  people  with  visions  of  boundless  riches.  The  ill- 
success  that  had  there  attended  the  operations  of  Crozat 
and  his  partners  was  not  sufficient  to  dispel  the  illusion 
from  the  public  mind,  or  to  beget  therein  more  rational 
views.  The  stories  of  its  vast  mineral  deposits  were  art- 
fully revived ;  ingots  of  gold,  the  products  of  its  supposed 
mines,  were  exhibited  at  the  Paris  mint ;  and  the  sanguine 
court  saw  in  the  future  of  that  province  an  empire,  with  its 
fruitful  valleys,  growing  cities,  busy  wharves,  and  exhaust- 
less  mines  of  gold  and  silver,  pouring  its  precious  freights 
into  the  channels  of  French  commerce. 

As  soon,  therefore,  as  the  charter  of  the  Sieur  Crozat 
was  annulled,  Law  proceeded,  under  letters  patent  from 
the  regent,  to  organize  the  Compagnie  d'  Occident,  or  Com- 
pany of  the  West,  which  was  based  upon  the  plan  of  col- 
onizing and  drawing  profits  from  the  French  possessions 
in  North  America.  The  charter  of  the  company  was  reg- 
istered in  the  Parliament  of  Paris  on  the  6th  of  September, 
1717 ;  and  all  of  the  king's  subjects,  including  corporate 
bodies,  and  even  aliens,  were  allowed  to  take  stock  in  it. 
The  capital  was  fixed  at  about  one  hundred  millions  of 
livres,  divided  into  shares  of  five  hundred  livres  each,  bear- 
ing interest  at  four  per  cent.,  which  were  subscribed  for  in 
the  public  securities.  As  the  bank  was  to  co-operate  with 
the  company,  the  regent  issued  an  order  that  its  bills  should 
be  received  the  same  as  coin  in  all  payments  of  the  public 
revenue.  Law  was  made  chief  director  of  the  company, 
which  was  copied  after  the  Earl  of  Oxford's  South  Sea 
Company,  originated  in  1711,  and  which  distracted  all 
England  with  the  frenzy  of  speculation. 

Among  the  more  important  privileges  conferred  on  this 
company  by  the  government,  was  the  exclusive  control  of 
the  commerce  of  Louisiana  for  twenty-five  years,  to  begin 
the  1st  of  January,  1718.  All  other  subjects  of  his  majesty 
were  prohibited  from  trading  hither,  under  penalty  of  con- 
fiscation of  their  merchandise  and  vessels ;  but  this  was  not 
intended  to  prevent  the  colonists  from  trading  with  each 
other,  or  with  the  Indians.  Power  and  authority  were 
also  given  the  company  to  make  treaties  with  the  Indian 


Law's  Credit  System.  253 

nations,  and  to  wage  war  against  them  in  case  of  aggres- 
sion or  insult ;  to  import  negro  slaves  into  the  province  ;  to 
open  and  work  all  mines,  free  of  duty ;  to  grant  lands,  even 
allodially ;  to  cast  cannon,  build  ships  of  war,  raise  and 
equip  troops,  and  to  nominate  the  provincial  officers,  who 
were  to  be  commissioned  by  the  crown.  In  addition  to  the 
above,  the  regent  promised  the  company  protection  against 
foreign  powers,  and  presented  it  with  all  the  forts,  guns, 
ammunition,  boats,  and  stores  in  Louisiana,  that  had  been 
surrendered  by  the  Sieur  Crozat.  Nor  was  this  all.  Dur- 
ing the  continuance  of  its  charter,  the  goods  of  the  company 
were  to  be  exempt  from  duty,  and  the  white  inhabitants  ol 
the  province  from  the  payment  of  any  state  tax.* 

The  paper  system  of  Law,  and  his  scheme  of  coloniza- 
tion, were  earnestly  opposed  by  D'Anguesseau,  the  chan- 
cellor, and  by  the  Duke  de  Noailles,  Minister  of  Finance, 
who  foresaw  the  evils  that  the  system  was  calculated  to  pro- 
duce. Finding  that  they  seriously  interfered  with  his  plans, 
the  regent  dismissed  them  from  office ;  but  the  opposition  of 
the  Parliament  of  Paris  was  not  so  easily  managed,  since 
that  body  aspired  to  an  equal  authority  with  the  regent  in 
the  administration  of  affairs.  The  chief  hostility  of  the 
parliament  was  directed  against  Law,  a  foreigner,  a  heretic, 
and  an  adventurer.  So  far  was  this  hostility  carried,  that 
secret  measures  were  taken  to  investigate  his  malversations, 
and  to  collect  evidence  against  him  ;  and  it  was  resolved  in 
parliament  that  should  the  testimony  collected  justify  their 
suspicions,  they  would  have  him  seized  and  arraigned  for 
trial,  and,  if  convicted,  would  hang  him  in  the  court-yard 
of  the  palace.  Receiving  intimation  of  his  threatened  dan- 
ger, Law  took  refuge  in  the  Palais  Royal,  the  residence  of 
the  regent,  and  implored  his  protection.  The  regent  him- 
self was  embarrassed  by  the  sturdy  opposition  of  the  parlia- 
ment, which  contemplated  nothing  less  than  a  decree  re- 
versing his  own  measures  of  finance.  However,  by  assem- 
bling a  board  of  justice,  and  bringing  to  bear  the  absolute 

*  History  of  Louisiana,  by  Francois  Xavier  Martin  (New  Orleans, 
1827),  vol.  1,  pp.  198,  201. 


254          French  Finances,  and  Law's  Mississippi  Co. 

authority  of  the  king,  he  triumphed  over  parliament  and 
relieved  Law  from  the  dread  of  being  hanged. 

The  credit  system  now  went  on  with  full  sail.  The 
Company  of  the  West,  being  identified  with  the  bank,  rap- 
idly increased  in  power  and  privileges.  One  monopoly 
after  another  was  granted  to  it ;  the  trade  of  the  Indian 
seas,  the  slave  trade  with  Senegal  and  Guinea,  the  farming 
of  tobacco,  the  royal  coinage,  etc.  Each  new  privilege  was 
made  a  pretext  for  emitting  more  bills,  and  caused  a  pro- 
portionate advance  in  the  prices  of  stock.  At  length,  on 
the  4th  of  December,  1718,  the  regent  gave  the  institution 
the  imposing  title  of  the  Royal  Bank  of  France,  and  pro- 
claimed that  he  had  effected  the  purchase  of  all  the  shares, 
the  proceeds  of  which  were  added  to  its  capital.  Arbi- 
trary measures  were  now  begun  to  force  the  bills  of  the 
bank  into  artificial  circulation.  On  the  27th  of  December 
an  order  was  made  in  council,  forbidding,  under  severe 
penalties,  the  payment  of  any  sum  above  six  hundred  livres 
in  gold  or  silver.  This  decree  rendered  bank  bills  neces- 
sary in  all  considerable  transactions  of  purchase  and  sale, 
and  called  for  a  new  emission.  The  prohibition  was  oc- 
casionally evaded  or  opposed,  but  confiscations  were  the 
consequence. 

The  worst  effect  of  this  illusive  system  was  the  mania 
for  gain,  or  for  gambling  in  stocks,  that  now  seized  upon 
the  French  nation.  Under  the  stimulus  of  lying  reports, 
and  the  compulsory  effects  of  government  decrees,  the 
shares  of  the  company  went  on  rising  until  they  reached 
thirteen  hundred  per  cent.  Nothing  was  talked  of  but  the 
prices  of  shares,  and  the  immense  fortunes  suddenly  made 
by  lucky  speculators.  The  most  extravagant  dreams  were 
indulged  concerning  the  wealth  that  was  to  flow  in  upon 
the  company  from  its  colonies,  its  trade,  and  its  various 
monopolies.  To  doubt  of  these  things  was  to  excite  anger, 
or  incur  ridicule.  And  in  a  time  of  public  infatuation,  it 
requires  no  small  exercise  of  courage  to  doubt  a  popular 
fallacy. 

Paris  now  became  the  center  of  attraction  for  the  ad- 
venturous and  avaricious,  who  flocked  thither  not  only 


The  Mania  for  Speculation.  255 

from  the  provinces,  but  from  the  neighboring  countries. 
A  stock  exchange  was  established  in  a  hotel  on  one  of  the 
principal  streets,*  and  immediately  became  the  resort  of 
stock  jobbers  and  speculators.  Guards  were  stationed  at 
either  end  of  the  avenue  to  maintain  order,  and  to  exclude 
horses  and  carriages.  The  whole  street  swarmed  through- 
out the  day  like  a  bee-hive.  Bargains  of  all  kinds  were 
struck  with  avidity.  Shares  of  stock  passed  from  hand  to 
hand,  mounting  in  value,  one  knew  not  why.  Fortunes 
were  made  in  a  moment,  as  if  by  magic,  and  every  lucky 
bargain  prompted  those  around  to  a  more  desperate  throw 
of  the  die. 

To  ingulf  all  classes  in  this  ruinous  vortex,  Law  di- 
vided the  shares  of  fifty  millions  of  stock  into  one  hundred 
shares  each,  thus  accommodating  the  venture  to  the  hum- 
blest purse.  Society  was  thus  stirred  to  its  very  dregs,  and 
people  of  the  lowest  order  hurried  to  the  stock  market  to 
invest  their  small  savings.  All  honest,  industrious  pur- 
suits, and  moderate  gains  were  now  despised.  The  upper 
classes  were  as  base  in  their  venality  as  the  lower.  The 
highest  nobles,  abandoning  all  generous  pursuits  and  lofty 
aims,  engaged  in  the  vile  scuffle  for  gain.  Even  prelates 
and  ecclesiastical  bodies,  forgetting  their  true  objects  of  de- 
votion, mingled  among  the  votaries  of  Mammon.  The 
female  sex  likewise  participated  in  the  sordid  frenzy.  Prin- 
cesses of  the  blood,  and  ladies  of  the  first  nobility  Were 
among  the  most  rapacious  of  stock-jobbers.  Meanwhile, 
luxury  and  extravagance  kept  pace  with  this  sudden  infla- 
tion of  fancied  wealth,  and  a  general  laxity  of  morals  was 
diffused  throughout  society. 

Law  went  about  with  a  countenance  beaming  with 
satisfaction,  and  apparently  dispensing  wealth  on  every 
hand.  Even  his  domestics  were  enriched  by  the  crumbs 
that  fell  from  his  table.  Wherever  he  went  his  path  was 
beset  by  a  base  throng,  who  waited  to  see  him  pass,  and 
sought  the  favor  of  a  word  or  a  smile,  as  if  a  mere  glance 
from  him  would  bestow  a  fortune.  The  same  venal  atten- 


*  It  was  afterward  removed  to  the  Place  Vendome. 


256          French  Finances,  and  Law's  Mississippi  Co. 

tion  was  paid  by  all  classes  to  his  family.  The  highest 
born  ladies  of  the  court  vied  with  each  other  in  meanness 
to  secure  the  lucrative  friendship  of  Mrs.  Law  and  her 
daughter.  The  wealth  of  the  banker  rapidly  increased 
with  the  expansion  of  the  bubble.  In  the  course  of  a  few 
months  he  purchased  some  fourteen  titled  estates,  paying 
for  them  in  paper  money ;  and  the  unthinking  public 
hailed  these  vast  acquisitions  of  landed  property  as  so 
many  proofs  of  the  soundness  of  his  system. 

The  illusory  credit  continued  its  course  triumphantly 
for  eighteen  months.  Law  had  nearly  fulfilled  one  of  his 
promises,  viz.,  to  pay  ofi'  the  public  debt ;  but  it  was  paid 
in  bank  shares,-  which  had  been  inflated  several  hundred 
per  cent  above  their  real  value,  and  which  were  shortly  to 
vanish  like  smoke  in  the  hands  of  the  holders. 

Toward  the  close  of  the  year  1719,  the  Mississippi 
scheme  had  reached  its  culmination.  Nearly  half  a  million 
of  strangers  had  crowded  into  Paris,  in  quest  of  fortune. 
The  hotels  and  boarding  houses  were  overflowing ;  lodgings 
were  procured  with  great  difficulty ;  granaries  were  turned 
into  bed-rooms ;  splendid  houses  were  multiplying  on  every 
side ;  and  the  streets  were  thronged  with  new  and  costly 
equipages. 

On  the  llth  of  December,  Law  obtained  another  pro- 
hibitory decree,  for  the  purpose  of  drawing  all  the  remain- 
ing specie  in  circulation  into  the  bank.  By  this  it  was  for- 
bidden to  make  any  payment  in  silver  above  ten  livres,  or 
in  gold  above  three  hundred.  The  repetition  of  decrees  of 
this  nature,  the  object  of  which  was  to  depreciate  the  value 
of  coin  and  increase  that  of  paper,  awakened  distrust  of  a 
system  which  required  such  bolstering.  Sound  financiers 
conferred  together,  and  agreed  to  make  common  cause 
against  this  continual  expansion  of  the  paper  system.  The 
shares  of  the  bank  and  of  the  company  began  to  decline  in 
value.  Wary  speculators  took  the  alarm,  and  began  to 
realize ;  a  term  now  first  brought  into  use,  it  is  said,  to  sig- 
nify the  conversion  of  ideal  property  into  something  real. 

The  regent,  discerning  these  signs  of  decay  in  the  sys- 
tem, sought  to  sustain  it  by  bestowing  office  upon  its  au- 


Edicts  of  the  Regent.  257 

thor.  Accordingly,  in  January,  1720,  he  appointed  Law 
to  be  comptroller-general  of  the  finances.  But  before  his 
appointment,  the  banker  had  to  abjure  his  Protestant 
faith  and  take  out  letters  of  naturalization, — a  feat  of  no 
great  difficulty  with  him. 

In  February  following,  a  decree  was  published  in  the 
king's  name  uniting  the  Royal  Bank  to  the  India  Com- 
pany, by  which  last  appellation  the  whole  establishment 
was  subsequently  known.  By  this  time,  the  bank  is  said 
to  have  issued  notes  to  the  amount  of  one  thousand  mil- 
lions of  livres ;  being  more  paper  than  all  the  other  banks 
of  Europe  were  able  to  circulate.  Various  compulsory 
measures  were  now  adopted,  which  gave  a  temporary 
credit  to  the  bank ;  but  with  all  these  props  and  stays, 
the  system  continued  to  totter.  On  the  22d  of  May  a  royal 
edict  was  issued,  in  which,  under  pretense  of  having  re- 
duced the  value  of  his  coin,  it  was  deemed  necessary  to 
reduce  the  value  of  his  bank  notes  one-half,  and  of  the 
India  shares  from  nine  thousand  to  five  thousand  livres. 
On  the  27th  this  oppressive  edict  was  revoked,  and  bank 
bills  were  restored  to  their  former  value.  But  the  fatal 
blow  had  at  length  been  struck ;  the  delusion  was  at  an 
end  ;  and  specie  payments,  except  in  small  sums,  were  sus- 
pended by  the  bank. 

To  avert  popular  odium  from  himself,  the  regent,  on 
on  the  29th  of  May,  dismissed  Law  from  the  office  of 
comptroller-general,  and  stationed  a  Swiss  guard  in  his 
house  to  protect  him  from  the  anger  of  the  populace. 
But  he  continued,  in  private,  to  co-operate  with  him  in 
his  financial  schemes.  A  general  confusion  now  took 
place  in  all  financial  affairs ;  and  execrations  were  poured 
out  on  all  sides  against  the  unfortunate  banker. 

About  the  middle  of  July  the  last  grand  effort  was 
made  by  Law  and  the  regent  to  keep  up  the  system,  and 
provide  for  the  enormous  issue  of  paper.  A  decree  was 
formulated,  giving  the  India  Company  the  entire  monopoly 
of  commerce,  on  condition  that  it  would  in  the  course  of 
a  year  reimburse  six  hundred  millions  of  Hvres  of  its  bills, 
17 


258         French  Finances,  and  Law's  Mississippi  Co. 

at  a  fixed  rate  per  month.  On  the  17th,  when  this  decree 
was  sent  to  Parliament  to  be  registered,  it  raised  a  storm 
of  opposition  in  that  assembly,  and  a  vehement  discussion 
ensued.  In  the  forenoon  of  that  day,  several,  persons 
were  stifled  in  the  crowd  at  the  door  of  the  bank,  where 
they  had  gone  to  change  ten  franc  notes  for  specie  to  buy 
provisions  in  the  market.  During  the  same  day  Law 
ventured  to  go  in  his  carriage  to  the  Palais  Royal.  But 
as  he  passed  along  the  streets,  he  was  saluted  with  cries 
and  curses,  and  reached  the  palace  in  a  terrible  fright.  The 
regent,  whose  nerves  were  stronger,  amused  himself  with 
his  fears,  but  kept  him  there  and  sent  away  his  carriage, 
wnich  was  assailed  by  the  mob  and  pelted  with  stones  un- 
til its  glasses  were  shivered. 

In  December,  1720,  John  Law  finally  quit  Paris 
and  France,  traveling  in  a  private  conveyance  of  the 
regent.  When  he  was  fairly  out  of  the  way,  a  council  of 
the  regency  was  summoned  to  deliberate  on  the  state  of 
the  finances  and  the  affairs  of  the  India  Company.  It  was 
then  ascertained  that  bank  bills  were  in  circulation  to  the 
enormous  amount  of  two  milliards  and  seven  hundred  mil- 
lions of  livres,  while  the  specie  remaining  in  the  kingdom 
was  estimated  at  not  more  than  thirteen  hundred  millions 
of  livres. 

When  Law  left  Paris,  he  took  with  him  only  eight 
hundred  louis  d'or,  and  a  few  personal  effects.  The  chief 
relic  of  his  immense  fortune  was  a  big  diamond,  which,  it 
it  is  said,  he  was  often  obliged  to  pawn.  His  furniture  and 
library  were  sold  by  auction  at  a  low  price,  and  his  landed 
estates  were  confiscated  to  the  government.  In  October, 
1721,  he  went  to  England,  and  was  presented  at  court  to 
his  majesty  George  I.  Returning  again  to  the  continent, 
he  led  an  adventurous  life,  shifting  about  from  place  to 
place.  He  received  from  France  an  annual  pension  of 
twenty  thousand  livres  until  the  death  of  the  Duke  of  Or- 
leans in  1723,  and  down  to  that  time  entertained  hopes  of 
arranging  a  settlement  of  his  accounts  with  the  French 
India  Company ,Jto  which  he  was  heavily  indebted.  By  de- 
grees, however,  he  sank  into  obscurity,  and  finally  died  in 


End  of  Law's  Career.  259 

poverty  in  Venice,  March  21,  1729,  at  the  age  of  fifty-eight 
years. 

It  is  now  generally  conceded  that  John  Law  was  a 
very  ingenious  calculator,  a  sincere  believer  in  his  own 
monetary  theory,  and  the  founder  to  some  extent  of  the 
modern  system  of  banking.  The  evil  genius  of  his  sys- 
tem appears  to  have  been  the  regent,  who  in  a  manner 
forced  him  on  to  an  expansion  of  his  paper  currency  far 
beyond  what  he  had  originally  contemplated.  "  Law  was 
like  a  poor  conjuror  in  the  hands  of  a  potent  spirit  that  he 
had  evoked.  He  only  thought  at  the  outset  to  raise  the 
wind,  but  the  regent  compelled  him  to  raise  the  whirl- 
wind." * 

"  Works  on  Law  and  his  system  are  numerous,"  saya 
the  American  Encylopedia  (X.,  p.  218) ;  "  but  it  is  only 
within  the  present  century  that  justice  has,  to  any  degree, 
been  done  to  the  extraordinary  talents  of  which  he  was 
really  possessed." 

The  unsound  financiering  and  mania  for  speculation, 
originating  with  and  fostered  by  the  great  "  projector," 
proved  most  disastrous  to  the  material  and  moral  welfare 
of  France ;  yet  a  great  impetus  was  given  to  the  settle- 
ment of  Louisiana  through  the  agency  of  his  Company 
of  the  West,,  which,  under  different  names  and  auspices, 
was  continued  for  fifteen  years.  The  first  efforts  of  the 
company  at  colonizing  the  new  province  were  upon  a  large 
scale ;  indeed,  extraordinary  measures  were  adopted  for 
this  purpose.  A  royal  edict  was  issued,  authorizing  the 
collection  and  transportation  of  settlers  to  the  Mississippi, 
under  which  the  streets  and  prisons  of  Paris  and  other 
cities,  were  swept  of  their  mendicants  and  vagabonds. 
These  unwilling  colonists  were  conveyed  to  the  seaport  of 
Rochelle,  and,  with  implements  of  all  kinds  for  the  work- 
ing of  mines,  were  crowded  on  board  of  ships,  and  sent  to 
Louisiana. 


*  See  the  admirable  essay,  entitled  The  Mississippi  Bubble,  in  the 
"  Crayon  Papers,"  by  Washington  Irving,  from  which  the  foregoing 
sketch  of  Law's  personal  career  is  chiefly  condensed. 


260  Louisiana  under  Laws'  Company. 

On  the  9th  February,  1718,  three  ships,  of  the  West- 
ern Company — the  Dauphine,  the  Vigilante  and  the  Nep- 
tune— arrived  at  Dauphin  Island  to  take  possession  of  Lou- 
isiana. After  discharging  their  cargoes,  these  vessels 
sailed  on  their  return  to  France ;  and  on  the  8th  of  March 
two  frigates,  the  Duchesse  de  Noailles  and  the  Victoire,  cast 
anchor  at  Ship  Island.*  -By  the  first  named  frigate  came 
Pierre  Duque  de  Boisbriant,  a  French-Canadian,  who  had 
received  the  appointment  of  king's  lieutenantf  of  -the 
province,  and  who  was  the  bearer  of  a  commission  appoint- 
ing his  cousin,  Bienville,  governor  and  commandant-gen- 
eral, in  place  of  M.  L'Epinay  removed.  Besides  the  of- 
officers  and  the  soldiers  belonging  to  the  company,  these 
different  vessels  brought  out  about  six  hundred  colonists, 
who  were  intended  to  settle  the  various  concessions  or  land 
grants  that  had  been  made  to  persons  of  prominence,  as 
inducements  to  immigration.  The  new  colonists  were  of 
different  ages,  sexes  and  conditions,  but  mostly  belonged 
to  the  poor  and  ignorant  class.  Some  of  them  perished 
from  the  lack  of  thrift  and  enterprise ;  some  from  impru- 
dence and  the  diseases  incident  to  the  climate ;  while 
others  lived  and  prospered  by  their  own  energy  and  in- 
dustry. 

In  October,  of  that  year  (1718),  Bernard  de  la  Harpe, 
one  of  the  leading  spirits  of  the  province,  at  this  period, 
started  to  take  possession  of  a  grant  or  concession  of  land 
that  had  been  made  to  him  on  the  upper  waters  of  Red 
River.  With  a  party  of  fifty  Frenchmen,  in  two  boats  and 
three  pirogues,  he  pushed  up  that  stream  to  the  jS^atchi- 
toches,  where  he  found  M.  Blondel  in  command  of  the 
French  fort,  then  recently  erected  there,  and  on  the  island 
near  by  were  about  two  hundred  Indians,  belonging  to 
the  Natchitoches,  Dulcinoes  and  Yatasse  tribes.  Lallarpe 
thence  continued  to  ascend  the  river  until  he  reached  the 
nation  of  the  Nassonis,  whose  villages  were  located  from 
seventy  to  eighty  leagues  above  the  Natchitoches.  Upon 


*  French's  "Historical   Collections  of   La."     New  Series  (N.  Y., 
1869),  p.  140;  also  vol.  II,  First  Series,  p.  66. 

t  That  is  lieutenant  du  roi,  or  lieutenant-governor. 


Adventures  of  La  Harpe.  261 

his  arrival  thither,  he  at  first  employed  his  men  in  con- 
structing a  block-house  for  their  use  and  the  storage  of  his 
goods,  in  which  labor  they  had  the  friendly  assistance  of 
the  Nassonis.  From  this  point  of  vantage,  he  afterward 
attempted  to  open  a  trade  with  the  Spaniards  }n  New  Mex- 
ico, and  also  explored  the  wide  range  of  country  between 
Red  River  and  the  Upper  Arkansas.  Agreeably  to  his  own 
narrative,  he  ascended  the  Arkansas,  or  one  of  its  con- 
stituent branches,  to  the  base  of  the  Rocky  Mountains, 
and  there  found  several  tribes  living  together  in  one  large 
village.  In  pursuance  of  the  usual  French  policy,  he  made 
himself  well  acquainted  with  the  different  Indian  nations 
inhabiting  those  wild  and  hitherto  unvisited  regions,  and 
formed  amicable  relations  with  several  of  them.  His 
printed  journal  of  his  voyage  and  discoveries  is  charac- 
terized by  simplicity  of  style  and  easy  credulity,  but  it  is 
none  the  less  entertaining,  and  contains,  withal,  much  use- 
ful information  respecting  the  aborigines  whom  he  vis- 
ited.* It  was  not  until  the  end  of  the  year  1719  that 
La  Harpe  returned  to  the  head-quarters  of  Governor  Bien- 
ville. 

From  the  beginning  of  operations  by  the  Western 
Company  in  Louisiana,  the  directors  thereof  had  evinced 
much  anxiety  for  the  occupation  of  the  Gulf  coast,  west 
of  the  river  Sabine,  with  a  colony.  But  Governor  Bien- 
ville,  believing  in  the  policy  of  concentrating  the  settle- 
ments near  the  Mississippi,  had  declined  sending  colonists 
to  that  remote  quarter,  where  they  would  be  exposed  to  the 
attacks  of  both  the  Indians  and  Spaniards.  At  length,  in 
August,  1721,  under  special  instructions  from  the  direct- 
ors, he  issued  the  following  official  order,  addressed  to  La 
Harpe,  for  the  establishment  of  a  post  near  the  Bay  of  St. 
Bernard,  or  Matagorda : 

"  We,  Jean  Baptiste  de  Bienville,  chevalier  of  the  mil- 


*  Vide  "  Journal  du  voyage  de  la  Louisiana,  fait  par  le  S'r  Bernard  de  la 
Harpe,  et  des  decouvertes  qu1  il  a  faites  dan  la  partie  de  L1  ouest  de  cette  colo- 
nie,"  from  the  year  1718  to  1722,  inclusive ;  printed  in  the  "  Historical 
Collections  "  of  Louisiana. 


262  Louisiana  under  Law's  Company. 

itary  order  of  St.  Louis,  and  commandant-general  for  the 
king  in  the  Province  of  Louisiana: 

"It  is  hereby  decreed  that  M.  de  la  Harpe,  command- 
ant of  the  Bay  of  St.  Bernard,  shall  emhark  in  the  packet, 
*  Subtile,'  commanded  by  Beranger,  with  a  detachment  of 
twenty  soldiers,  under  Belile,  and  shall  proceed  forthwith 
to  the  Bay  of  St.  Bernard,  belonging  to  this  province,  and 
take  possession  in  the  name  of  the  king  and  the  Western 
Company ;  shall  plant  the  arms  of  the  king  in  the  ground, 
and  build  a  fort  upon  whatsoever  spot  appears  most  advan- 
tageous for  the  defense  of  the  place. 

"  If  the  Spaniards  or  any  other  nation  have  taken  pos- 
session, M.  de  la  Harpe  will  signify  to  them  that  they  have 
no  right  to  the  country,  it  being  known  that  possession 
was  taken  in  1685  by  M.  de  la  Salle,  in  the  name  of  the 
King  of  France,  etc.  "  BIENVILLE." 

"August  10,  1721."  * 

Pursuant  to  this  order,  La  Harpe  sailed  shortly  after 
upon  his  doubtful  enterprise ;  but  on  arriving  at  the  bay 
he  found  no  safe  harbor,  and  owing  to  the  opposition  man- 
ifested by  the  natives  on  its  shores  (who  were  partly  in- 
fluenced by  the  Spaniards  in  Mexico),  he  built  no  fort  there. 
Mindful,  indeed  of  the  fate  of  La  Salle's  colony,  and  un- 
willing to  expose  his  own  men  to  savage  massacre,  he  re- 
turned to  Dauphin  Island  early  in  the  following  October,f 
and  the  enterprise  was  thereafter  abandoned. 

In  1719  the  directors  of  the  company  sent  out  for  pub- 
lication in  the  province  of  Louisiana  a  proclamation  and 
schedule,  fixing  the  prices  at  which  goods  and  merchandise 
were  to  be  obtained  in  the  company's  stores  at  Dauphin  Is- 
land, Mobile,  and  Biloxi.  To  these  prices  an  advance  of 
five  per  centum  was  to  be  added  to  goods  delivered  at  New 
Orleans;  ten  per  cent,  at  Natchez;  thirteen  at  Yazous ; 
twenty  at  Natchitoches,  and  fifty  at  the  Illinois  and  on  the 

*  Monette's  "  Valley  of  the  Mississippi,"  vol.  1,  p.  235. 
tThe  town  of  La  Harpe,  in  Hancock  County,  111.,  appears  to  have 
been  so  named  in  memory  of  this  noted  Frenchman. 


Bienville  Founds  New  Orleans.  263 

Missouri.  The  commodities  of  the  country  were  to  be  re- 
ceived at  the  company's  warehouses  in  Mobile,  Biloxi,  Ship 
Island,  and  New  Orleans,  at  the  rates  following,  viz  :  Silk, 
of  which  very  little  was  produced,  from  one  dollar  and 
fifty  cents  to  two  dollars  the  pound ;  tobacco,  of  the  best 
kind,  five  dollars  the  hundred ;  rice,  four  dollars ;  super- 
fine flour  three  dollars  ;  wheat,  two  dollars  ;  barley  and  oata 
ninety  cents  the  hundred ;  deer-skins  from  fifteen  to  twenty- 
five  cents ;  dressed,  without  head  or  tail,  thirty  cents ;  hides 
eight  cents  per  pound.* 

No  sooner  had  M.  de  Bienville  superseded  L'Epinay 
as  governor  of  Louisiana,  in  1718,  than  he  revived  his 
scheme  for  transferring  the  seat  of  government  of  the 
province  from  the  sterile  sands  of  the  Gulf  coast  to  the  al- 
luvial banks  of  the  Mississippi.  Having  already  selected 
a  site  for  the  new  capital,  he  now  sent  the  Sieur  de 
la  Tour,  chief  engineer  of  the  colony,  with  a  force  of 
eighty  convicts  (lately  arrived  from  the  prisons  of  France), 
to  clear  a  strip  of  land  along  the  river,  and  trace  out  the 
plan  of  the  town.  The  settlement  thus  begun  here  was 
named  Nouveau  Orleans,  in  honor  to  the  Duke  of  Orleans, 
then  prince  regent  of  France.  But  M.  Hubert,  commis- 
sary of  the  colony  and  Company  of  the  West,  refused  to 
transfer  the  offices  and  warehouses  of  the  company  from 
Mobile  and  Dauphin  Island,  which  were  more  accessible  to 
vessels  from  the  sea.  For  this  reason,  New  Orleans  was 
maintained  for  several  years  only  as  a  small  military  and 
trading  post.  In  1720  La  Tour  surveyed  the  mouths  or 
passes  of  the  Mississippi,  and  reported  that  New  Orleans 
might  be  made  a  commercial  port.  At  this  time  it  was  a 
collection  of  less  than  one  hundred  palisade  cabins,  built  of 
cypress  wood  on  low,  malarious  ground,  subject  to  inun- 
dations, and  surrounded  by  a  forest  or  thicket  of  willows, 
canes,  and  dwarf  palmettos.  In  January,  1722,  the  town 
was  visited  by  Father  Charlevoix,  who  thus  recorded  his 
impressions  of  the  place : 

"  The  environs  of  New  Orlans  have  nothing  very  re- 

t  Martin's  History  of  Louisiana,  vol.  1,  page.  219. 


264  Louisiana  under  Law's  Company. 

markable.  I  did  not  find  this  city  so  well  situated  as  I  had 
been  told  ;  others  are  not  of  the  same  opinion."  Again,  he 
writes  :  u  I  have  nothing  to  add  to  what  I  said  in  the  be- 
ginning of  my  former  letter  concerning  the  present  state 
of  New  Orleans.  The  truestidea  that  you  can  form  of  it  is  to 
represent  to  yourself  two  hundred  persons  that  are  sent  to 
build  a  city,  and  who  are  encamped  on  the  side  of  a  great, 
river,  where  they  have  thought  of  nothing  but  to  shelter 
themselves  from  the  air,  while  they  wait  for  a  plan,  and 
have  built  themselves  some  houses.  M.  de  Pauger,*  whom 
I  have  still  the  honor  to  accompany,  has  just  shown  me  one 
of  his  drawings.  It  is  very  fine  and  very  regular,  but  it 
will  not  be  so  easy  to  execute  it  as  to  trace  it  on  paper."  f 

The  Mobile  and  Alabama  Rivers  had  formed  a  favorite 
line  of  communication  with  the  northern  interior,  and  from 
its  closer  connection  with  the  sea,  Fort  Louis  on  the  Mo- 
bile remained  a  principal  post ;  but  in  August,  1723,  the 
official  quarters  of  Bienville  were  removed  to  New  Orleans, 
and  its  destiny  was  fixed.  Thus  the  central  point  of  French 
power  in  Louisiana,  after  hovering  for  over  twenty  years 
round  Ship  and  Dauphin  Islands,  and  the  bays  of  Biloxi 
and  Mobile,  was  at  last  permanently  established  on  the 
banks  of  the  Mississippi,  and  the  southern  colonists  began 
to  gather  in  settlements  along  that  great  river,  so  as  to  be 
within  easy  reach  of  the  rising  capital.  Although  many  of 
the  French  doubted  the  wisdom  or  propriety  of  Bienville's 
conduct  in  thus  changing  the  seat  of  government,  yet  time 
has  amply  demonstrated  the  clearness  of  his  foresight,  and 
the  soundness  of  his  judgment  in  this  important  action. 

From  a  mere  provincial  head-quarters  and  central  depot 
for  the  commercial  transactions  of  a  single  company,  New 
Orleans  has  since  progressively  grown  to  be  the  great  em- 
porium of  the  Lower  Mississippi  Valley,  the  recipient  of 
the  trade  of  some  fifteen  thousand  miles  of  river  naviga- 
tion, to  say  nothing  of  her  extensive  railway  connections, 


*  De  Pauger  was  second  or  assistant  engineer  of  the  colony ;  and  in 
1722  he  established  the  little  post  called  Balize,  at  the  south  pass  of  the 
Mississippi. 

t"  Journal  of  Travels  in  North  America,"  pp.  332,  334. 


The  Province  Divided  into  Districts.  265 

and  the  busy  port  where  the  ships  and  merchants  of  all 
nations  do  congregate. 

Even  at  that  early  day  her  rare  commercial  advantages, 
present  and  prospective,  were  well  understood  on  the  Paris 
Bourse.  Yet,  all  around  the  nascent  city,  was  then  a  mat- 
ted and  marshy  forest,  "calculated  by  its  dreariness  and 
solitude  to  inspire  far  other  thoughts  than  those  of  com- 
merce, empire,  wealth,  and  power." 

At  or  before  this  time  (1723),  the  Province  of  Louisi- 
ana was  divided  for  civil  and  military  purposes  .into  nine 
districts,  each  of  which  was  placed  undfer  the  jurisdiction 
of  a  separate  commandant.  These  military  districts  were 
named  as  follows :  (1)  Alibamons,*  (2)  Mobile,  (3)  Biloxi, 
(4)  New  Orleans,  (5)  Natchez,  (6)  Yazoux,  (7)  Illinois  and 
Wabash,  (8)  Arkansas,  (9)  Natchitoches.  The  province  was 
also  divided  into  three  ecclesiastical  districts. 

We  must  now  revert  to  the  war  which  broke  out  in 
1719  between  France  and  Spain,  and  which  extended  to 
their  American  colonies.  On  the  19th  of  April  in  that  year 
two  ships  arrived  from  France,  bringing  out  some  colonists, 
and  an  abundant  supply  of  provisions  and  ammunition. 
By  these  vessels,  Governor  Bienville  received  letters  from 
the  court  informing  him  that  war  had  been  declared  in 
Europe  between  France  and  Spain.  The  governor  there- 
upon called  a  council  of  his  officers,  at  which  it  was  de- 
termined to  make  an  attack  on  Fort  Pensacola,  before  the 
Spanish  garrison  there  could  be  reinforced.  For  this  expe- 
dition he  assembled  his  regular  troops,  together  with  some 
Canadians  and  Indians,  and  put  them  under  the  command  of 
Captain  de  Chateaugue,  his  brother,  and  Captain  de  Riche- 
bourg.  Embarking  his  little  army  in  three  vessels,  the 
commander  sailed  early  in  May  to  Santa  Rosa  Island,  where 
the  Spaniards  had  an  outpost.  This  the  French  seized 
without  opposition,  and  then  advanced  upon  Pensacola, 
which  they  invested  and  took  by  surprise ;  for  the  Spanish 
commandant  claimed  that  he  was  not  aware  of  the  exist- 


*The  district  of  the  Alibamons  lay  between  the  rivers  Alabama 
and  Tombigbee. 


266  Louisiana  under  Law's  Company. 

ence  of  war  between  the  two  nations.  Having  made  him- 
self master  of  Pensacola,  Bienville  sent  the  prisoners  he 
had  taken  in  a  vessel  with  some  troops,  commanded  by 
Captain  de  Richebourg,  to  Havana.  He  then  left  his 
brother,  Chateaugue,  in  command  of  Fort  Pensacola,  with 
a  garrison  of  sixty  men,  and  returned  to  Dauphin  Island. 

The  French,  however,  were  soon  compelled  to  relin- 
quish their  conquest.  On  the  5th  of  August  two  Spanish 
vessels  arrived  from  Havana  before  Pensacola,  and  sum- 
moned the  commandant  to  surrender.  This  being  refused, 
a  brisk  cannonade  began  on  both  sides,  and  was  continued 
until  night.  On  the  next  day  the  Spaniards  again  sent  a 
summons  to  Chateaugue  to  surrender.  He  asked  four  days 
time  to  consider  the  matter,  and  was  allowed  two,  during 
which  he  sent  by  land  to  Dauphin  Island  for  assistance. 
Unfortunately,  Bienville  was  not  then  in  a  position  to  af- 
ford him  any  aid,  and  the  attack  was  renewed.  Captain 
Chateaugue  defended  the  fort  as  long  as  he  could,  but  be- 
ing deserted  by  a  part  of  his  garrison,  he  was  obliged  to 
capitulate,  when  he  was  sent  a  prisoner  to  Havana.  The 
Spanish  commandant  was  now  reinstated,  and  immediately 
set  to  work  to  repair  the  injuries  done  by  the  cannonading ; 
and  in  order  to  strengthen  the  defenses  of  the  place,  he 
erected  a  little  fort  on  the  Isle  of  Santa  Rosa. 

Soon  after  this  the  Spanish  commander  of  Pensacola 
dispatched  a  large  bateau,  armed  with  six  pieces  of  cannon, 
to  harass  the  French  establishment  on  Dauphin  Island.  The 
bateau  being  joined  by  another  armed  vessel,  they  opened 
a  sharp  fire  upon  the  island,  which  was  stoutly  returned 
by  the  French  ship,  Philip,  and  a  battery  on  shore.  After 
bombarding  the  island  several  days,  and  making  various 
ineffectual  attempts  to  land  their  forces,  the  Spanish  vessels 
were  compelled  to  withdraw,  their  departure  being  hastened 
by  the  unexpected  appearance  of  a  French  squadron  of  five 
vessels,  commanded  by  M.  de  Champmeslin. 

This  fleet  arrived  before  Dauphin  Island  on  the  1st  of 
September,  1719,  and  brought  out  about  eight  hundred  peo- 
ple, comprising  officers,  soldiers,  and  colonists,  for  Louis- 
iana. A  council  of  war  being  held,  it  was  decided  to  re- 


The  Capture  of  Pensacola.  267 

take  Pensacola,  and  rescue  the  French  soldiers  who  had 
been  taken  prisoners  by  the  Spaniards.  Accordingly,  on 
the  7th  of  September,  the  entire  fleet,  with  the  exception 
of  one  vessel,  set  sail  for  Pensacola.  The  French  and  Cana- 
dian troops,  from  Dauphin  Island,  who  formed  a  little  army 
by  themselves,  commanded  by  the  Sieur  de  St.  Denis,  were 
debarked  near  the  mouth  of  the  river  Perdido,  to  attack 
the  large  fort  by  land,  while  the  squadron  held  on  its  way. 
No  sooner  had  the  French  ships  of  war  entered  and  come 
to  anchor  within  the  harbor  at  Pensacola,  than  they  opened 
fire  upon  the  Spanish  forts  and  vessels.  After  a  fierce  can- 
nonade of  two  or  three  hours,  the  Spaniards,  numbering 
about  twelve  hundred,  surrendered,  and  were  made  prison- 
ers of  war.  Among  them  were  found  forty  French  de- 
serters, twenty  of  whom  were  hung  at  the  yard-arm  of  the 
admiral's  ship,  and  the  remainder  condemned  to  ten  years' 
labor  as  galley  slaves.  On  the  next  day  a  Spanish  vessel, 
laden  with  provisions  and  stores,  entered  the  port  of  Pen- 
sacola, not  knowing  that  it  had  changed  masters,  and  was 
immediately  captured  by  the  French. 

After  the  re-taking  of  Pensacola,  the  two  forts  were 
demolished,  and  all  the  houses  were  destroyed  save  four, 
which  were  kept  for  the  use  of  the  small  garrison  left  there. 
The  captured  munitions  and  stores  were  transported  to 
Dauphin  Island.* 

But  the  operations  of  this  inter-colonial  war,  which 
lasted  two  years,  were  not  wholly  confined  to  the  fringe 
of  European  settlements  on  the  coast  of  Florida  and 
Louisiana.  Adventurous  white  traders  and  explorers  had 
already  found  a  route  across  the  wide  and  barren  plains 
of  the  west,  from  the  Missouri  River  to  New  Mexico ;  and 
during  the  year  1720  a  Spanish  expedition  was  organized 
at  Santa  Fe  f  to  operate  against  the  French  in  Northern 

*  Dumont's  Historical  Memoir  of  Louisiana. 

Note.— It  was  during  the  autumn  and  winter  of  that  year  (1719), 
that  Governor  Bienville  removed  the  main  body  of  the  colony  from 
Dauphin  Island  to  Old  Biloxi,  and  thence  to  New  Biloxi,  on  the  west 
side  of  the  bay  of  that  name. 

t  Santa  F6  was  settled  by  the  Spaniards  as  early  as  1582-'83. 


268  Louisiana  under  Law's  Company. 

Louisiana,  while,  at  the  same  time,  it  was  expected  that  a 
fleet  would  assail  the  posts  of  the  latter  on  the  Gulf. 

Accordingly  a  force  of  three  hundred  Spanish  cavalry, 
together  with  some  traders,  women,  and  a  few  priests,  set 
out  from  Santa  Fe  on  their  eastward  march  across  the 
country,  guided  by  a  band  of  Padouca,  or  Comanche,  In- 
dians. The  intention  of  the  leaders  of  the  expedition  was 
to  proceed  by  way  of  the  Upper  Arkansas,  and  to  secure 
the  co-operation  of  the  Osage  Indians  in  a  combined 
attack  upon  the  Missouris,  who  were  friends  or  allies  of 
the  French.  Seventy  only  of  the  Spaniards  appear  to  have 
persevered  in  this  dangerous  enterprise,  and  they  were  con- 
ducted by  their  ignorant  guides  so  far  to  the  north  that 
they  struck  the  Kansas,  instead  of  the  Arkansas  River,  at 
a  point  not  far  above  its  junction  with  the  Missouri. 
Here  they  unwittingly  found  themselves  among  the  Mis- 
souri Indians,  who  spoke  the  same  language  as  the  Osages. 
The  wily  chiefs  of  the  Missouris  dissembled  their  own  in- 
tentions until  they  had  ascertained  the  purpose  of  the  in- 
vaders, and  received  a  supply  of  arms  from  them.  They 
then  assembled  their  young  warriors,  and,  falling  suddenly 
upon  the  Spaniards,  put  them  all  to  death,  save  the  com- 
mander, who  is  said  to  have  escaped  by  the  fleetness  of  his 
horse. 

Such,  in  substance,  is  the  story  of  the  invasion  and 
attempted  occupation  of  the  country  of  the  Missouris  by  the 
Spaniards  from  New  Mexico,  whose  objective  point  was  the 
Illinois.— (Martin's  Hist,  of  La.,  pp.  234-5.) 


The  account  of  this  Spanish  expedition,  as  given  in 
Bossu's  Letters  of  Travel,  agrees  in  essential  points  with 
the  above,  but  varies  from  and  is  fuller  in  its  details.  He 
writes : 

"  In  1720  the  Spaniards  formed  the  design  of  settling  at  the  Mis- 
souris, who  are  near  the  Illinois,  in  order  to  confine  us  (the  French) 
more  on  the  westward ;  the  Missouris  are  far  distant  from  New  Mexico, 
which  is  the  most  northerly  province  the  Spaniards  have. 


Bossu's  Account  of  the  Spanish  Expedition.          269 

"  They  believed  that  in  order  to  put  their  colony  in  safety,  it  was 
necessary  they  should  entirely  destroy  the  Missouris ;  but  concluding 
that  it  would  be  impossible  to  subdue  them  with  their  own  forces  alone, 
they  resolved  to  make  an  alliance  with  the  Osages,  a  people  who  were 
the  neighbors  of  the  Missouris,  and  at  the  same  time  their  mortal  en- 
emies. With  that  view,  they  formed  a  caravan  at  Santa  Fe,  consisting 
of  men,  women  and  soldiers,  having  a  Jacobine  (Dominican)  priest  for 
their  chaplain,  and  an  engineer  captain  for  their  chief  and  conductor, 
with  the  horses  and  cattle  necessary  for  a  permanent  settlement.  The 
caravan  being  set  out  mistook  its  road,  and  arrived  at  the  Missouris, 
taking  them  to  be  the  Osages.  Immediately  the  conductor  of  the  car- 
avan ordered  bis  interpreter  to  speak  to  the  chief  of  the  Missouris, 
as  if  he  had  been  that  of  the  Osages,  and  tell  him  that  they  were  come 
to  make  an  alliance  with  him,  in  order  to  destroy  together  the  Missouris, 
their  enemies. 

"  The  great  chief  of  the  Missouris  concealed  his  thoughts  upon 
this  expedition,  showed  the  Spaniards  signs  of  great  joy,  and  promised 
to  execute  a  design  with  them  which  gave  him  much  pleasure.  To 
that  purpose,  he  invited  them  to  rest  for  a  few  days  after  their  tiresome 
journey,  till  he  had  assembled  his  warriors,  and  held  council  with  the 
old  men  ;  but  the  result  of  that  council  was,  that  they  should  entertain 
their  guests  very  well,  and  affect  the  sincerest  friendship  for  them. 

"  They  agreed  together  to  set  out  in  three  days.  The  Spanish  captain 
immediately  distributed  fifteen  (five)  hundred  muskets,  with  an  equal 
number  of  pistols,  sabers  and  hatchets ;  but  the  very  morning  after  this 
agreement,  the  Missouris  came  by  break  of  day  into  the  Spanish  camp, 
and  killed  them  all  except  the  Jacobin  priest,  whose  singular  dress  did 
not  seem  to  belong  to  a  warrior.  .  .  . 

"All  these  transactions  the  Missouris  themselves  related,  when  they 
brought  the  ornaments  of  the  chapel  hither— (to  the  Illinois).  These 
people,  not  knowing  the  respect  due  the  sacred  utensils,  hung  the 
chalice  to  a  horse's  neck,  as  if  it  had  been  a  bell.  They  were  dressed 
out  in  these  ornaments;  the  chief  having  on  the  naked  skin  the 
chasuble,  with  the  paten  suspended  from  his  neck. 

"  The  Missouris  told  him  (Boisbriant)  that  the  Spaniards  intended  to 
have  destroyed  them ;  that  they  had  brought  him  all  these  things  as  being 
of  no  use  to  them,  and  that  if  he  would,  he  might  give  them  such  goods 
in  return  as  were  more  to  their  liking.  Accordingly,  he  gave  them  some 
goods,  and  sent  the  ornaments  to  M.  de  Bienville,  who  was  then  the 
governor  of  the  Province  of  Louisiana.  As  the  Indians  had  got  a  great 
number  of  Spanish  horses  from  the  caravan,  the  chief  of  the  Missouris 
gave  the  finest  of  them  to  M.  de  Boisbriant.  They  had  likewise  brought 
with  them  the  map  which  had  conducted  the  Spaniards  so  ill ;  who  came 
to  surrender  themselves,  confessing  their  intention  to  their  enemies."— 
Nouveau  Voyages  aux  Indies  Occidentals,  Par  M.  Bossu,  Capitaine  dans  les 
Trnupes  de  la  Marine.  A  Paris,  1768.  English  edition,  London,  1771, 
Part  I.,  pp.  150-155. 


270  Itoisbriant's  Rule  in  Illinois. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

1718-1732. 

LIEUTENANT    BOISBRIANT'S  RULE  IN  THE  ILLINOIS THE  NATCHEZ 

WAR. 

Early  in  the  month  of  October,  1718,  Pierre  Duque  de 
Boisbriant,  as  king's  lieutenant  for  Louisiana,  departed  from 
the  Mobile  up  the  Mississippi,  with  a  considerable  detach- 
ment of  regular  troops,  to  regulate  affairs  in  the  Illinois, 
and  to  establish  a  permanent  military  post  for  the  better 
protection  of  the  French  inhabitants  in  that  important  part 
of  the  province.  Arrived  at  Kaskaskia,  he  temporarily  lo- 
cated his  head-quarters  there,  which  was  the  first  military 
occupation  of  the  village  ;  but  it  was  only  for  about  fifteen 
months  that  he  made  it  his  residence.  Selecting  a  con- 
venient site  for  a  post,  some  sixteen  mileS  above  and  to  the 
north-west  of  Kaskaskia,  he  sent  a  number  of  artisans  and 
laborers  to  work  there,  and  by  the  spring  of  1720  they  had 
built  and  completed  the  fort,  which  was  thenceforth  the 
head-quarters  of  the  commandant  and  the  seat  of  authority 
in  the  district.  It  was  erected  at  the  expense  of  the  Com- 
pany of  the  West,  and  was  named  Fort  Chartres,  or  Fort 
de  Chartres,  probably  in  compliment  to  the  then  Regent  of 
France,  from  the  title  of  his  son,  the  Due  de  Chartres.* 
The  fort  stood  less  than  one  mile  from  the  Mississippi,  and 
a  little  to  the  east  of  an  older  fortlet  that  had  been  raised 
by  the  adventurers  under  Crozat.  This  second  fort  was 
not  a  place  of  much  military  strength,  being  constructed 
principally  of  wood ;  but  it  subserved  the  purpose  of  its 
builders  and  occupants,  and  in  time  was  supplanted 'by  that 
extensive  stone  erection,  at  the  same  place,  which  figures 
so  prominently  in  the  later  French  history  of  Illinois. 

*  It  might  also  have  been  so  called   from  a  city  of  that  name  in 
France. 


First  Building  of  Fort  Chartres.  271 

Upon  the  building  of  Fort  Chartres,  a  village  began 
to  grow  on  the  bottom  between  it  and  the  river.  The 
"  company "  erected  its  warehouses  here,  and  the  Jesuits 
built  the  church  of  St.  Anne  de  Fort  Chartres.  Under  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  priest  of  this  church,  chapels  were  sub- 
sequently erected  at  Prairie  du  Rocher  and  St.  Philippe's. 
After  the  rebuilding  of  the  fort  in  1756,  the  village  took 
the  name  of  New  Chartres ;  and,  a  few  years  later,  it  is 
said  to  have  contained  forty  families.  Part  of  the  ancient 
records  of  the  parish  of  St.  Anne  have  been  preserved  to 
this  day.* 

Shortly  after  the  occupation  of  Fort  Chartres,  all  the 
French  villages  in  Illinois  became  extended  and  received 
considerable  accessions  to  their  population.  In  1719,  a  par- 
ish was  formed  of  the  mission  at  Kaskaskia,  of  which,  in 
the  succeeding  year,  Father  Nicholas  Ignatius  de  Beaubois 
had  charge.  In  1721  the  Jesuits  established  a  monastery 
and  college  (so  called)  at  Kaskaskia,  and  in  1725  the  vil- 
lage became  incorporated  as  a  town.  At  Cahokia,  the  Sul- 
pitians  erected  a  water-mill  for  grinding  corn  and  sawing 
lumber,  and  also  improved  and  stocked  a  fine  plantation. 

As  the  transactions  of  the  Western  Company  were 
multiplied  and  extended  in  Lower  Louisiana,  the  district 
of  the  Illinois  was  likewise  benefited  ;  for  they  furnished 
a  market  for  its  surplus  agricultural  productions,  already 
considerable,  and  to  the  furs  and  pelts  gathered  in  traffic 
with  the  Indians,  as  well  as  to  the  lead  dug  from  the  mines 
of  Missouri.  But  this  was  not  all.  The  colonists  could 
now  obtain  from  the  company  titles  to  their  landed  pos- 
sessions, and  thus  be  quieted  in  any  uneasiness  they  might 
otherwise  have  felt  in  regard  to  them.  The  only  tenure  by 
which  they  had  hitherto  held  their  village  lots  and  parcels 
of  land  was  by  verbal  grant  or  mere  acquiescence  of  the 
Indians,  with  no  reference  to  the  king,  "  the  lord  para- 
mount of  the  soil  according  to  French  law." 

The  "company"  had  succeeded  to  the  rights  of  the 
crown  in  the  land,  and,  though  extensive  domains  were 

*  History  of  Randolph  Co.,  111.,  etc.,  p.  376. 


272  Boisbrianf s  Rule  in  Illinois. 

granted  by  it  to  some  favored  or  influential  persons  in  the 
southern  part  of  Louisiana,  there  were  but  few  in  the  north- 
ern part  who  sought  to  secure  more  than  those  small  par- 
cels or  tracts,  the  cultivation  of  which  had  inspired  them 
with  a  feeling  of  home.  Moreover,  it  was  important  to  the 
managers  of  the  company  that  the  soil  should  be  cultivated, 
as  a  ready  and  certain  source  of  subsistence  to  those  at- 
tached to  it,  and  for  the  success  of  all  their  operations. 
Disappointed  in  the  eager  search  for  mineral  wealth,  many 
of  the  adventurers  betook  themselves  from  necessity  to  the 
pursuits  of  agriculture.  Grants  of  laud  were  therefore 
made,  for  the  purposes  of  settlement  and  cultivation,  to  all 
who  applied  for  them.  The  earliest  recorded  private  grants 
date  back  to  1722,  and  were  mostly  executed  by  M.  de 
Boisbriant,  commandant  in  the  Illinois,  representing  the 
king,  and  Marc  Antoine  de  la  Loire  des  Ursins,  on  behalf 
of  the  Royal  Indian  Company,  successor  to  the  Company 
of  the  "West.  The  following  is  one  of  the  earliest  of 
record : 

"  Pierre  Duquet  de  Boisbriant,  Knight  of  the  Military 
Order  of  St.  Louis,  and  first  King's  Lieutenant  ^of  the 
Province  of  Louisiana,  commanding  at  the  Illinois,  and 
Mons.  Antoine  de  la  Loire  des  Ursins,  principal  Commissary 
for  the  Royal  India  Company,  on  the  demand  of  Charles 
Danie,  to  grant  him  a  piece  of  land  of  five  arpents  in  front 
on  the  side  of  the  Mitchigamia  River,  running  north  and 
south,  joining  to  Michael  Philip  on  one  side,  and  on  the 
other  to  Meleque,  and  in  depth,  east  and  west  to  the  Mis- 
sissippi. In  consequence,  they  do  grant  to  the  said  Charles 
Danie,  in  socage,  the  said  land,  whereon  he  may  from  this 
date  commence  working,  clearing  and  sawing,  in  expecta- 
tion of  a  formal  concession,*  which  shall  be  sent  from 
France  by  Messrs,  the  Directors  of  the  Royal  India  Com- 
pany, and  the  said  land  shall  revert  to  the  domain  of  the 


*  This  more  "  formal  concession  "  seems  to  have  been  neglected  by 
the  company. 


Land  Grants  by  the  Company.  273 

said  company  if  the  said  Charles  Danie  does  not  work 
thereon  within  a  year  and  a  day. 

"  Given  this  10th  day  of  May,  1722. 

(Signed,)  "  BOISBRIANT, 

"  "DBS  URSINS."* 

Remarking  upon  the  above  and  similar  grants,  Judge 
Breese  writes  :  "  Incipient  titles  were  only  granted  by  these 
officers,  but  almost  all  of  them  ripened  into  a  right  without 
the  formality  of  a  concession  from  the  company  in  France, 
and  became  allodial,  though  granted  in  socage,  for  the  sim- 
ple reason  that  they  were  considered  of  so  little  value  as 
property  that  the  agents  of  the  company  did  not  trouble 
themselves  to  see  whether  the  conditions  and  services  were 
performed  or  not. 

"  The  manner  in  which  the  settlers  cultivated  is  pecu- 
liar, I  believe,  to  the  French,  and  deserves  a  passing  notice. 
They  had  not,  as  wre  have,  separate  fields,  nor  did  they  re- 
side on  the  cultivated  lands  in  general.  They  dwelt  in 
villages,  on  lots  of  ground  containing  generally  an  arpent 
square  (less  than  the  English  acre),  which  they  inclosed 
with  pickets  of  cedar  or  other  durable  wood,  sharpened  at 
the  top,  and  appropriated  it  to  the  purpose  of  a  garden,  re- 
serving a  small  part  only  for  a  barn,  stable,  and  other  out- 
houses. Their  farming  lands  were  adjacent  to  the  village 
in  the  neighboring  prairie,  divided  into  strips,  sometimes 
not  more  than  half  an  arpent  in  width,  extending  originally 
west  from  the  Kaskaskia  to  the  Mississippi  River,  a  mile  or 
more  in  length,  and  uninclosed  by  any  fence  whatever. 
These  farming  strips,  thus  lying  contiguous  to  each  other, 
embraced  what  was  long  known  as  the  'common  field.'"  f 

It  appears  from  a  petition  presented  by  the  inhabitants 
of  Kaskaskia  to  the  district  commandant  of  the  Illinois, 
early  in  1727,  that  in  the  year  1719  Major  Boisbriant  had 
caused  to  be  drawn  the  lines  of  the  grand  square  in  the 


*  He  was  afterward  killed  in  the  massacre  at  Fort  Rosalie. 
t  "Early  History  of  Illinois,"  p.  173. 
18 


274  Boisbriant's  Rule  in  Illinois. 

prairie  which  they  then  tilled,  and  designated  to  each  in- 
habitant his  respective  parcel  of  land.  He  then  established 
a  "  common  "  for  stock,  lying  outside  of  the  lines  of  the 
cultivated  fields,  and  extending  south  to  the  mouth  of  the 
Kaskaskia  River,  and  also  including  the  adjacent  islands  in 
the  Mississippi,  and  a  strip  of  bottom  land  on  the  east  side 
of  the  former  river,  for  their  cattle,  horses,  and  swine  to 
range  upon.  But  the  written  instruments  of  concession 
were  not  delivered  to  them  by  the  Superior  Council  of 
Louisiana. 

Under  this  arrangement,  it  was  necessary  to  watch 
their  live  stock  while  grazing  on  the  common  adjacent  to 
the  cultivated  lands,  the  idea  not  having  occurred  to  them 
until  Boisbriant  gave  them  the  hint,  that  a  fence  would 
protect  them  from  their  ravages  and  render  watching  use- 
less. It  was  not,  however,  until  1727  that  they  did  inclose 
these  lands  by  planting  pickets  upon  the  lines  marked  out 
by  Boisbriant,  thus  making  a  large  field  of  several  thousand 
acres.  The  "  commons  "  afforded  a  rich  pasturage  for  their 
cattle  and  horses,  and  much  of  it  was  covered  with  a  lux- 
uriant growth  of  walnut,  oak,  and  hickory,  the  mast  from 
which,  added  to  the  hazel-nuts,  served  to  fatten  their  numer- 
ous swine. 

On  the  22d  of  June,  1722,  Messieurs  Boisbriant  and 
Des  Ursins  granted  to  the  inhabitants  of  Cahokia  their 
"commons,"  situated  on  the  alluvial  bottom  between  that 
village  and  the  Mississippi,  and  near  to  the  present  great 
city  of  St.  Louis.  The  same  officials  also  confirmed  to 
them  their  "  common  fiqld,"  which  extended  from  the 
bluffs  that  line  the  American  Bottom  on  the  east  to  the 
Rigolet  or  creek  of  Cahokia.* 

In  the  following  }Tear,  on  June  14,  1723,  Boisbriant 
and  Des  Ursins  granted  to  Philip  Francois  de  Renault,  di- 
rector-general of  the  mining  operations  of  the  company, 
one  league  square  of  land  in  the  south-west  part  of  what  is 
now  Monroe  county,  Illinois,  and  also  a  tract  of  land  of 
more  than  fourteen  thousand  acres  at  Peoria.  Renault  was 


*  Breese's  History,  pp.  174  to  176. 


Land  Grants  to  the  Sieur  Renault.  275 

a  man  of  fortune  and  enterprise,  who  had  left  La  Belle 
France  in  the  spring  of  1719,  with  two  hundred  miners  and 
laborers,  and  every  thing  needful  to  prosecute  the  business 
pertaining  to  his  office.  On  the  voyage  to  Louisiana,  he 
purchased  at  St.  Domingo  five  hundred  Guinea  negroes  to 
work  in  the  mines.  Arriving  on  the  Lower  Mississippi,  he 
thence  ascended  the  river  in  canoes  to  the  Illinois  and  Mis- 
souri, where  gold  and  silver  were  supposed  to  exist  in 
abundance.  Sanguine  hopes  were  entertained  by  the  stock- 
holders of  the  "  company  "  at  his  anticipated  success,  but 
they  all  eventually  ended  in  disappointment.  Prospecting 
and  mining  parties  were  sent  out  into  various  parts  of  the 
country.  Diligent  search  was  made  for  minerals  on 
Drewry's  Creek,  in  what  is  now  Jackson  county ;  about  St. 
Mary's,  in  Randolph  county;  along  Silver  Creek,  in  Monroe 
county ;  at  several  points  in  St.  Clair  county,  and  in  other 
parts  of  Southern  Illinois,  as  well  as  in  Missouri.  But, 
after  expending  a  large  amount  of  money  and  four  yeara 
of  valuable  time,  Renault  had  to  content  himself  with  the 
gift  of  the  before  mentioned  wild  lands,  and  with  dull  lead 
instead  of  the  glittering  ores.* 

On  the  concession  made  to  him  in  Monroe  county,  he 
laid  out  a  little  village,  which  he  honored  with  his  own 
baptismal  appellation  of  "  St.  Philippe."  It  stood  on  the 
plain,  about  one  mile  east  of  the  Mississippi,  and  five  miles 
from  old  Fort  Chartres.  Like  all  the  other  French  villages, 
it  had  its  "  common  field,"  the  allotments  being  made  by 
the  founder,  and  also  its  "commons,"  embracing  a  large 
scope  of  the  unappropriated  domain.  It  contained  at  one 
time  sixteen  houses,  besides  a  small  chapel,  but  in  1765 
nearly  all  the  inhabitants  deserted  it,  and  went  to  reside  on 
the  western  bank  of  the  Mississippi.  Not  a  vestige  of 
either  this  or  Charte  Village  now  remain  to  tell  the  story 
of  their  rise,  progress,  or  decline.  The  name  of  the  worthy 
Renault,  however,  is  still  perpetuated  in  that  of  a  precinct 
and  post-office  of  Monroe  county. 


*  Later  geological  investigation  has  shown  that  silver  is  combined 
with  the  lead  mined  in  this  region,  but  in  hardly  sufficient  quantities 
to  pay  for  its  separation. 


276  Boisbriant's  Rule  in  Illinois. 

To  Boisbriant  himself,  the  Company  of  the  Indies,  be- 
fore the  surrender  of  its  vast  privileges  to  the  crown, 
granted  what  in  Europe  would  have  been  considered  a 
handsome  principality,  embracing  several  thousand  acres 
of  rich  bottom  land,  extending  from  the  bluffs  on  the  east 
to  the  Mississippi.  In  1733,  he  transferred  this  fine  tract 
to  his  nephew,  J  ean  St.  Therese  Langlois,  an  officer  of  the 
king's  troops  then  quartered  in  the  Illinois.  Imitating 
Renault's  example,  Langlois  established  upon  his  estate  the 
village  of  Prairie  du  Rocher,  reserving  to  himself  certain 
seignorial  rights  recognized  by  the  feudal  law  and  the  cus- 
toms of  Paris.  He  divided  the  land  set  apart  for  the  vil-  \  / 
lage  into  small,  narrow  allotments,  with  a  "common  field,"  ^ 
as  usual,  to  actual  settlers,  some  of  whose  descendants 
continue  to  cultivate  it  in  a  primitive  way  to  the  present 
time.  This  village  took  its  name  from  the  rocky  bluff  that 
bounds  it  on  the  east,  and  runs  parallel  with  the  river  at 
the  distance  of  a  league  therefrom.  It  is  situated  about 
three  miles  east  of  Fort  Chartres,  and,  at  the  close  of  the 
French  dominion,  comprised  twenty-two  dwelling-houses 
and  a  chapel. 

Aside  from  those  we  have  mentioned,  but  few  grants 
of  any  magnitude  were  made  by  the  Royal  India  Company 
to  persons  in  Illinois.  Good  lands  were  far  too  abundant 
in  those  days  to  be  much  cared  for,  or  considered  of  any 
particular  value;  otherwise,  many  of  the  French  settlers 
might  have  possessed  dukedoms.  At  this  period,  the  pres- 
ence of  the  commandant,  and  of  the  local  officers  of  the 
"company,"  together  with  a  detachment  of  his  majesty's 
troops,  at  Fort  Chartres,  made  it  the  focus  of  whatever  of 
wealth,  culture,  and  fashion  there  was  in  the  district  of  the 
Illinois. 

In  1725,  Governor  Bienville,  owing  to  the  jealousy  and 
opposition  of  his  enemies,  was  recalled  to  France,  and  his 
brother,  Chateaugue,  was  also  deposed  from  his  office  of 
lieutenant-governor  in  the  colony.  M.  de  Boisbriant,  as 
first  king's  lieutenant,  now  became  governor  ad  interim  of 
Louisiana,  with  head-quarters  at  New  Orleans,  and  his  po- 
sition of  major- commandant  at  the  Illinois  was  filled  by 


Grov.  Bienmlle  Succeeded  by  Perier.  277 

the  Sieur  de  Liette,  a  captain  in  the  royal  army.  Boisbriant 
was  an  amiable  and  benevolently  inclined  gentleman,  and 
his  administration  of  affairs  was  deservedly  popular,  both 
in  Upper  and  Lower  Louisiana.  In  August,  1726,  he  was 
relieved  of  his  duties  as  commandant-general  of  the  prov- 
ince by  M.  de  Perier,  an  officer  of  the  marines,  and  a 
knight  of  St.  Louis,  who  had  been  appointed  to  succeed 
Bienville. 

Shortly  after  his  arrival  and  installation  in  office,  Gov- 
ernor Perier's  attention  was  called  to  the  Natchez  and 
Chickasaw  Indians,  and  to  the  insincerity  of  their  profes- 
sions of  friendship  for  the  French.  He  thereupon  ad- 
dressed the  directors  of  the  India  Company,  and  urged 
upon  them,  as  his  predecessor  had  done  before,  to  provide 
more  effective  protection  for  the  white  settlers  exposed  to 
the  hostility  of  those  tribes.  But  his  apprehensions  were 
not  shared  by  the  directors,  and  no  additional  troops  appear 
to  have  been  provided. 

We  now  approach  one  of  the  most  memorable  epi- 
sodes in  the  French  annals  of  Louisiana,  viz,  the  war  with 
and  destruction  of  the  Natchez  nation.  The  history  of 
this  strange  and  interesting  people  has  been  imparted  to 
us  by  their  destroyers ;  and  we  may  therefore  presume  that 
all  the  more  amiable  and  polished  traits  ascribed  to  them 
are  true.  They  and  their  kindred,  the  Taensas  (who  dis- 
appeared as  a  distinct  tribe  before  1712),  inhabited  that 
range  of  sunny  hills  on  the  east  side  of  the  Mississippi, 
which  constitutes  one  of  the  finest  districts  in  the  present 
State  of  Mississippi.  Their  traditions  pointed  to  the  fact 
that  their  ancestors  had  come  from  countries  to  the  south- 
west. Their  language,  Sabianism,  human  sacrifices,  and 
mound  building,  seem  to  connect  them  with  the  Toltecs  of 
Mexico,  or  the  Mayas  of  Yucatan.  Their  singular  custom 
of  distorting  the  head  by  compression  corresponds  with  the 
description  of  the  ancient  Mexicans,  by  Berual  Diaz.  They 
are  described  as  mild,  friendly  and  brave,  though  preferring 
peace  to  war,  and  as  being  very  dissolute. 

Compared  with  the  Indians  around  them,  the  Natchez 
might  be  called  a  semi-civilized  people.  It  is  true  that 


278  JBoisbriant' s  Rule  in  Illinois. 

some  barbarous  customs  prevailed  among  them,  but  these 
only  indicate  that  a  cruel  and  sanguinary  superstition  may 
taint  the  character  and  manners  of  a  people,  otherwise 
peaceable  and  humane.  They  had  fixed  laws  or  usages, 
gradations  of  rank,  and  an  established  worship,  with  tem- 
ples dedicated  to  the  sun.  They  were  governed  by  a  chief 
called  the  Great  Sun,  said  to  have  been  descended,  in  the 
female  line,  from  a  man  and  woman  who  came  down  from 
the  sun,  and  built  their  first  temple  for  perpetual  fire,  which 
was  ever  afterward  maintained.  This  temple  stood  on  a 
mound  about  eight  feet  high,  with  a  pitched  roof,  and 
in  it  three  logs  were  kept  slowly  burning.  The  power  of 
the  Sun-chief  was  absolute,  as  was  that  of  the  lesser  suns, 
or  male  members  of  his  family.  Such  was  the  idolatrous 
veneration  in  which  the  great  chief  was  held  by  his  sub- 
jects, that  he  was  never  approached  by  them  without 
special  marks  of  reverence.  Next  to  the  Suns  were  the 
subordinate  chiefs  or  nobles.  The  common  people,  called 
puants,  by  the  French,  were  apparently  a  mixed  race  of 
Choctaws  and  others.  In  war  the  Natchez  used  bows  and 
arrows,  clubs,  and  other  Indian  weapons,  but  they  had  no 
metals  of  any  consequence.  They  dressed  in  buffalo,  bear 
and  other  skins  for  winter,  and  in  summer  wore  light  robes 
made  of  flax,  or  the  inner  bark  of  the  mulberry.  They 
had  various  feasts,  which  were  duly  celebrated ;  and  on 
the  death  of  a  chief  killed  many  of  his  retainers  to  attend 
him  in  the  future  life.  Their  dead,  after  the  practice  of 
the  Indians  in  general,  were  kept  on  raised  platforms  till 
the  flesh  was  consumed,  when  the  bones  were  buried. 

"  The  Natchez,"  writes  Mr.  Gayarre,  "  were  of  a  light 
mahogany  complexion,  with  jet  black  hair  and  eyes.  Their 
features  were  extremely  regular,  and  their  expression  was 
intelligent,  open,  and  noble.  They  were  tall  in  stature, 
very  few  of  them  being  under  six  feet,  and  the  symmetry 
of  their  well-proportioned  limbs  was  remarkable."  This 
description,  however,  could  hardly  apply  to  any  but  the 
chiefs  and  nobles  of  that  race.  Originally  a  very  numerous 
people,  they  occupied  and  ruled  the  country  far  up  and 
down  the  Mississippi ;  but  they  began  to  decline  before  the 


Some  Account  of  the  Natchez  Nation.  279 

appearance  of  the  French  among  them,  which  has  been 
termed  "the  era  of  their  doom."  The  causes  assigned  for 
the  dwindling  of  this  race  were,  their  frequent  hecatombs 
of  human  beings,  the  state  of  warfare  in  which  they  lived 
with  the  neighboring  tribes,  the  prevalence  of  lung  diseases 
among  them,  and  the  ravages  of  the  small-pox. 

The  existence  of  the  Natchez  was  known  to  Europeans 
from  the  year  1560,  when  Don  Tristan  de  Luna  led  a  Span- 
ish expedition  into  their  country  from  the  southern  coast 
of  Florida.  La  Salle,  as  we  have  seen,  reached  them  in 
March,  1682,  and  d'Iberville  was  there  in  the  spring  of 
1700.  Soon  after  that,  they  were  visited  by  English  traders 
from  Carolina.  At  this  period  they  occupied  a  group  of 
five  villages,  situated  to  the  east  and  south-east  of  the  pres- 
ent city  of  Natchez,  and  about  three  miles  from  the  Missis- 
sippi River.  The  French  both  courted  and  dreaded  this 
formidable  people,  and  in  their  intercourse  with  them  had 
need  for  the  exercise  of  all  their  tact  and  skill  in  Indian 
diplomacy.  In  1716,  the  Natchez  having  killed  some 
Frenchmen  and  made  prisoners  of  others,  Bienville,  as 
lieutenant  of  the  province,  coerced  them  to  put  to  death 
certain  of  the  murderers,  and  built  Fort  Rosalie  there  for 
the  protection  of  the  French  settlers.  In  1722  acts  of  hos- 
tility were  renewed  by  the  inconstant  Natchez,  when  Bien- 
ville, as  commandant-general,  sent  the  Sieur  Paillou,  with 
a  number  of  troops,  to  chastise  them  ;  and  in  October,  1723, 
the  governor  himself  conducted  an  expedition  from  New 
Orleans  against  that  people.  Upon  arriving  with  his  army 
at  the  Natchez,  he  destroyed  two  of  their  villages  (White 
Apple  and  Gray  Village),  and  compelled  Stung-Serpent, 
the  great  chief  of  the  nation,  to  bring  him  the  heads  of 
Oldhair,  chief  of  the  White  Apple  Village,  and  of  a  free 
negro,  who  had  settled  among  the  Natchez  and  made  him- 
self the  leader  of  an  insurrectionary  party.  Having  thus 
brought  the  war  to  an  end,  the  governor  returned  to  the 
capital.*  But  the  peace  now  made  was  insincere,  and  new 


*  Dumont's  Memoir,  in  Hist.  Coil's  of  La.,  vol.  v. 


280  The  Natchez  War. 

troubles  arose  from  time  to  time  between  the  whites  and 
the  Indians. 

The  proximate  cause  of  the  war,  which  ended  in  the 
extinction  of  the  Natchez  as  a  nation,  was  due  to  the  ra- 
pacity and  tyranny  of  the  Sieur  de  Chopart,  or  Chepart, 
who  was  appointed  commandant  of  Fort  Rosalie  in  1726. 
He  first  made  himself  obnoxious  to  the  French  settlers  at 
Natchez  by  various  acts  of  oppression  and  injustice,  and 
was  ordered  to  New  Orleans  to  undergo  an  investigation  of 
his  conduct.  But,  at  the  solicitation  of  influential  friends, 
and  with  mistaken  leniency  on  the  part  of  Governor  Perier, 
he  was  reinstated  in  his  command.  On  his  return  to  his 
post,  in  1729,  Chopart  took  with  him  some  negro  slaves, 
intending  to  establish  a  plantation  in  that  locality.  Not 
daring  to  dispossess  any  of  the  French  settlers,  he  resolved  to 
take  possession  of  the  Great  Village  of  the  Natchez,  which 
was  seated  in  a  beautiful  plain,  intersected  by  the  little  river 
St.  Catharine.  With  this  intention,  he  sent  for  the  Sun- 
chief,  and  by  his  interpreter,  Papin,  ordered  him  to  remove 
his  people  from  the  Great  Village,  since  it  was  needed  for 
the  erection  of  some  large  buildings.  To  so  astounding  a 
proposition  the  great  chief  replied,  "  that  their  nation  had 
long  been  in  possession  of  that  village,  and  lived  there ; 
that  the  ashes  of  their  fathers  reposed  there,  deposited  in 
the  temples  which  they  had  built ;  that  the  French  had 
never  yet  taken  lands  by  force ;  that  if  they  had  settled  on 
their  lands,  the  nation  itself  gave  them  sites  in  the  hope  of 
obtaining  protection  and  defense  against  their  enemies;  and 
that  many  Frenchmen  had  given  goods  to  the  Indians  in 
payment  for  the  lands  they  occupied."  * 

These  representations  made  no  impression  on  the 
mind  of  the  rapacious  commandant,  who  repeated  his  order, 
with  the  threat  that,  if  it  was  not  complied  with,  -he  would 
send  the  chief  bound  hand  and  foot  to  New  Orleans.  The 
great  chief  seeing  that  he  could  not  move  the  command- 
ant, pretended  to  yield  to  his  demand,  and  only  asked  two 
moons  (months)  in  which  to  choose  and  prepare  a  new  vil- 


*Dumont's  Memoir,  in  Hist.  Coil's  of  La.,  vol.  v.,  p.  65. 


Tyrrany  of  the  French  Commandant.  281 

lage  for  his  nation.  The  time  asked  for  was  granted  by 
Chopart,  but  on  the  condition  that  the  inhabitants  of  the 
village  should  pay  him  a  certain  quantity  of  poultry,  bask- 
ets of  corn,  pots  of  bear's  oil  and  bundles  of  skins. 

When  the  great  chief  returned  to  his  village,  he  sum- 
moned a  council  of  his  principal  chiefs  and  warriors  to 
consider  what  means  should  be  adopted  to  prevent  their 
village  and  lands  from  being  taken  from  them  by  the 
French.  Many  secret  meetings  and  conferences  were  held, 
and  it  was  finally  resolved  to  massacre  not  only  the  com- 
mandant and  garrison  of  Fort  Rosalie,  but  all  the  French 
in  their  territory,  and  thus  rid  themselves  of  their  hated 
presence.  So  soon  as  this  barbarous  resolution  was  taken, 
they  sent  deputies  to  the  principal  Indian  nations  in  the 
province,  requesting  their  aid  in  this  supreme  effort  to  pre- 
serve their  independence.  The  Choctaws,  the  Chickasaws. 
and  even  the  Illinois  were  invited  to  take  part  with  them 
in  their  meditated  scheme  of  vengeance.  The  Choctaws 
were  the  first  and  readiest  to  embrace  the  quarrel  of  the 
Natchez.  They  agreed  to  destroy  all  the  French  on  the 
lower  part  of  the  Mississippi,  and  for  the  execution  of  this 
purpose  fixed  the  day  which  ended  the  two  moons  granted 
by  the  commandant.  But  as  these  Indians  could  not  count, 
they  exchanged  with  each  other  as  many  little  sticks  or 
twigs  as  there  were  days,  till  that  fixed  for  the  butchery. 
After  this  negotiation,  the  Natchez  deputies  returned  to 
their  village,  bearing  the  fatal  bundle  of  sticks.  These  the 
great  chief  carried  to  the  temple,  and  every  morning  he 
threw  one  of  the  twigs  on  the  fire,  which  was  kept  burning 
there.  The  Indians,  meantime,  remained  quietly  at  their 
Great  Village,  taking  no  steps  to  remove" to  another  site. 

Although  kept  very  secret,  the  plot  was  neverthe- 
less disclosed.  The  interpreter  of  the  post,  the  sub-lieu- 
tenant of  the  garrison,  and  several  others  were  warned  of 
what  was  coming  by  certain  Indian  women,  their  mis- 
tresses. Even  the  day  (St.  Andrew' s-eve)  of  the  bloody  exe- 
cution was  foretold.  But  when  this  was  reported  to  Cho- 
part, the  commandant,  he  refused  to  believe  it,  and  went  so 
far  as  to  order  those  who  brought  him  the  disquieting  news 


282  The  Natchez  War. 

to  be  placed  under  arrest.  "  Warned  as  he  was,  he  might 
very  easily  have  prevented  the  misfortune  which  happened, 
had  he  chosen  to  do  so ;  it  would  have  been  enough  to  put 
the  troops  under  arms,  and  fire  a  cannon  even  without  ball. 
But  either  because  wine  and  the  table  had  troubled  his 
judgment,  or  that  he  was  unfortunately  prejudiced  in  favor 
of  the  Indians,  or  that  he  believed  them  incapable  of  dar- 
ing to  execute  such  a  design,  he  would  not  take  any  meas- 
ures to  thwart  it ;  and  as  his  injustice  provoked,  so  his  ob- 
stinacy crowned  the  evil  and  made  it  remediless."* 

The  fatal  day  for  the  outburst  of  the  smothered  ven- 
geance of  the  savages,  according  to  the  count  kept  by  the 
Natchez,  was  the  29th  of  November,  1729.  On  the  morn- 
ing of  that  day  the  Sun-chief  set  out  from  his  village,  at- 
tended by  a  numerous  body  of  his  warriors,  with  their 
weapons  concealed  under  their  clothing,  and  with  the  calu- 
met raised  aloft,  they  marched  to  the  house  of  the  com- 
mandant, bearing  the  promised  tribute  of  poultry,  corn, 
bear's  oil,  etc.  The  soldiers  of  the  garrison  were  abroad  in 
fancied  security,  and  the  savages  immediately  seized  the 
gates  of  the  fort,  so  as  to  exclude  them  from  access  to  their 
arms.  At  the  same  time  the  houses  of  the  French,  and  a 
boat  at  the  landing,  were  surrounded.  The  work  of  blood 
now  began,  and  before  noon  nearly  all  the  Frenchmen  can- 
toned among  the  Natchez  were  slain.  Two  men  only  were 
spared — one  a  carter  and  the  other  a  tailor — and  a  few 
others  escaped.  Such  was  the  abhorrence  and  contempt  of 
the  Natchez  for  Chopart,  that  none  of  their  chiefs  would 
kill  him,  and  a  Puant  warrior  was  deputed  to  perform  that 
service. 

It  is  related  that  the  Sun-chief  took  his  seat  under  the 
projecting  roof  of  the  store-house  belonging  to  the  India 
Company,  and  complacently  smoked  his  calumet,  while  the 
heads  of  the  Frenchmen  were  brought  one  after  another 
arid  laid  at  his  feet.  Among  the  more  prominent  victims 


*  Dumont's  Historical  Memoir,  before  cited.  He  was  a  lieutenant 
in  the  French  service,  and  a  participant  in  some  of  the  events  he  nar- 
rates. 


Massacre  of  the  French  at  Fort  Rosalie.  283 

of  this  treacherous  massacre  were,  Father  du  Poisson,  a 
Jesuit  missionary  among  the  Arkansas ;  Father  Soulet,  a 
Capuchin  missionary  to  the  Natchez  ;  the  Sieur  de  la  Loire 
des  Ursins,  who  had  been  judge  and  commissary  at 
Natchez ;  M.  de  Koly  and  son.  who  had  arrived  only  the 
day  before  to  visit  their  concession  on  St.  Catherine's 
Creek ;  and  the  Sieur  Codere,  commandant  of  the  post  on 
the  Yazoo,  who  happened  to  be  at  Fort  Rosalie  at  the  time. 
The  French  garrison  of  twenty  men,  at  Fort  St.  Claude, 
on  the  Yazoo,  also  shared  the  fate  of  assassination  ;  but  this 
was  not  until  some  weeks  later,  for  the  Natchez  did  not,  at 
first,  admit  the  Yazoo  Indians  into  the  secret  of  their  plot. 
The  total  number  of  men  killed  was  reckoned  at  not  less 
than  two  hundred  and  fifty.  Several  of  the  French  women, 
who  attempted  to  defend  their  husbands  or  brothers,  were 
cut  down  by  the  pitiless  savages ;  but  the  greater  part  of 
the  women  and  children  were  held  up  as  captives,  and  the 
negro  slaves  were  kept  for  menial  purposes. 

When  the  tidings  of  this  horrible  massacre  were  car- 
ried to  New  Orleans  and  Mobile,  it  created  a  general  con- 
sternation. But  Governor  Perier  promptly  took  measures 
of  defense  and  retaliation.  A  vessel  was  dispatched  to 
France  for  additional  troops  and  military  stores,  and  mes- 
sengers were  Bent  with  the  news,  by  way  of  Red  River 
and  the  Arkansas,  to  Fort  Chartres,  in  the  Illinois.  The 
town  of  New  Orleans  was  hastily  fortified  by  a  ditch  and 
embankment,  and  each  house  was  furnished  with  arms. 
The  governor  assembled  a  force  of  regulars  and  militia  to 
move  up  the  river  against  the  Natchez,  and  confided  the  com- 
mand of  it  to  the  Chevalier  de  Lubois,  king's  lieutenant. 

Governor  Perier  also  sent  the  Sieur  de  Lery,*  a  capable 
officer,  familiar  with  the  Indian  languages,  to  sound  the 
Choctaws,  and  gain  over  that  inconstant  tribe  to  the  French 
interest.  The  Choctaws  were  piqued  at  the  Natchez  for 
having  made  their  attack  upon  the  French  two  days  in  ad- 
vance of  the  time  fixed  by  their  fagot  of  sticks,  and,  more- 
over, were  dissatisfied  with  the  reception  accorded  by  the 


*  Or  Le  Sueur,  according  to  some  authorities. 


284  The  Natchez  War. 

Natchez  to  their  deputies,  who  had  been  sent  thither  a  few 
days  after  the  massacre.  Under  these  circumstances,  the 
Sieur  de  Lery,  by  distributing  presents  among  the  Choctaw 
chiefs,  easily  induced  them  to  serve  the  French  in  the  cam- 
paign, and  he  was  followed  across  the  country  by  over 
twelve  hundred  of  their  dusky  warriors.  Entering  the 
Natchez  territory,  and  advancing  to  the  vicinity  of. the 
Great  Village,  Captain  de  Lery  and  his  Choctaw  army  en- 
camped about  the  28th  of  January,  1730,  to  await  the  ar- 
rival of  the  French  army  from  New  Orleans.  Still  exult- 
ing in  their  triumph,  and  not  expecting  to  be  attacked  so 
soon,  the  Natchez  were  spending  their  time  in  idle  festivi- 
ties and  carousals.  Early  the  next  morning  (the  29th),  the 
Choctaws  rushed  upon  their  village,  liberated  some  of  the 
captive  French  women  (whom  they  stripped  of  every  thing 
the  Natchez  had  left  them),  and  brought  away  a  number  of 
prisoners  and  scalps. 

In  the  following  February  the  colonial  troops  arrived 
from  the  capital,  under  the  command  of  the  Chevalier  de 
Loubois,  who  laid  siege  to  the  fort  of  the  Natchez  on  St. 
Catherine's  Creek.  In  the  meantime  the  Natchez  made 
preparations  for  a  determined  resistance;  but  upon  the  ap- 
pearance of  so  superior  a  force,  and  hearing  the  discharge 
of  French  cannon,  they  humbly  sued  for  peace,  offering  to 
restore  the  prisoners  remaining  in  their  hands,  and  forsake 
the  country.  Anxious  to  save  the  captive  women  and 
children,  Loubois  consented  to  postpone  the  attack  for  one 
day.  During  the  night  of  the  truce,  however,  the  Natchez 
withdrew  from  their  fort  and  village  so  quietly  as  not  to 
disturb  the  slumbers  of  their  enemies.  Their  escape  was 
due  to  a  want  of  vigilance  on  the  part  of  the  French  of- 
ficers, who  may  have  connived  at  it,  and  the  war  was  con- 
sequently prolonged.  Leaving  a  detachment  of  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty  men  to  rebuild  Fort  Rosalie,  which  had 
been  destroyed  by  the  Natchez,  the  French  commander  em- 
barked with  the  remainder  of  his  army  for  New  Orleans. 

Some  of  the  fugitive  Natchez  sought  shelter  and  homes 
with  the  Chickasaws;  but  the  main  body  of  the  nation, 
under  the  lead  of  the  Sun-chief,  crossed  the  Mississippi  and 


Extinction  of  the  Natchez  Nation.  285 

established  a  new  village  and  fort  on  Black  River,  from 
whence  they  continued  their  acts  of  hostility.  Thither  they 
were  pursued  by  Governor  Perier  in  January,  1731,  with 
a  force  of  one  thousand  French  and  Indians ;  and  on  the 
25th  of  that  month,  partly  by  assault,  and  partly  by  strat- 
egy, he  reduced  their  stronghold,  capturing  the  Sun,  his 
brother  and  nephew,  forty  warriors,  and  three  hundred  and 
eighty-seven  women  and  children.  These  were  sent  to  New 
Orleans,  whence  they  were  shipped  to  St.  Domingo,  and 
sold  as  slaves  for  the  benefit  of  the  "  company."  A  remnant 
of  the  tribe,  fleeing  farther  westward,  came  in  conflict  with 
the  Natchitoches,  by  whom  they  were  repulsed  with  loss, 
aided  by  the  French  under  the  veteran  St.  Denis;  after 
which  they  joined  the  Chickasaws,  and  kept  up  a  desultory 
warfare  on  the  French  settlers.* 

"  Thus  perished  the  nation  of  the  Natchez.  Their  pe- 
culiar language,  which  has  been  still  preserved  by  the  de- 
scendants of  the  fugitives,  and  is,  perhaps,  now  on  the 
point  of  expiring — their  worship  (of  the  sun),  their  divis- 
ions into  nobles  and  plebeians,  their  bloody  funeral  rites — 
invite  conjecture,  and  yet  so  nearly  resemble  in  character 
the  distinctions  of  other  tribes  that  they 'do  but  excite, 
without  gratifying,  curiosity."  f 


*The  Natchez  never  again  appeared  as  a  distinct  nation.  After  a 
considerable  time  they  moved  to  the  Muskogees,  and  in  1835  were  re- 
duced to  300  souls,  retaining  their  own  language  and  line  of  Suns,  but 
without  restoring  their  temple  or  sun-worship.  For  their  language,  the 
only  materials  are  the  words  preserved  by  Le  Page  du  Pratz  and  other 
early  French  writers,  and  a  vocabulary  taken  by  Gallatin,  in  1826,  from 
the  chief  Isahalateh.  Dr.  Brinton  traced  the  analogy  between  it  and 
the  Maya.— Amer.  Encyclo.,  vol.  xii.,  p.  158. 

t  Bancroft's  History,  vol.  iii.,  p.  364. 

Note. — In  the  vicinity  of  the  modern  city  of  Natchez  there  are,  or 
were  formerly,  two  or  three  groups  of  ancient  mounds  of  considerable 
size,  from  which  have  been  taken  numerous  relics,  such  as  stone 
weapons,  pipes,  earthen  vessels  covered  with  figures,  fragments  of  pot- 
tery, etc.  It  has  been  a  question  among  local  antiquaries  whether  these 
tumuli  were  in  any  way  the  work  of  the  Natchez  Indians.  But  the 
probabilities  are,  that  while  they  may  have  been  used  as  places  of  sep- 
ulture by  these  or  other  Indians,  yet  that,  if  not  mere  natural  eleva- 
tions, they  were  originally  the  work  of  the  more  ancient  mound  builders. 


286  The  Company  Surrenders  its  Charter. 

The  heavy  expenditures  incurred  in  prosecuting  the 
war  against  the  Natchez,  the  consequent  loss  of  trade  with 
other  tribes,  the  inadequate  returns  from  its  commerce  and 
mines,  and  the  financial  embarrassments  following  Law's 
failure,  induced  the  Company  of  the  Indies  to  solicit  leave 
of  the  king  for  a  surrender  of  its  charter  in  Louisiana. 
The  petition  was  granted;  and  on  the  10th  of  April,  1732, 
by  proclamation  of  Louis  XV.,  the  jurisdiction  and  control 
of  the  government  and  commerce  of  the  colony  reverted 
directly  to  the  French  crown.  The  Company  of  the  West 
and  its  successor,  the  Royal  India  Company,  had  held  act- 
ual possession  of  the  Louisiana  wilderness  for  fourteen 
years,  which,  upon  the  whole,  were  years  of  prosperity. 
During  this  period  the  white  population  of  the  province 
had  increased  from  something  over  one  thousand  to  five 
thousand,  and  the  number  of  negro  slaves  from  twenty  to 
two  thousand.  New  Orleans  had  been  made  the  seat  of  the 
provincial  government  and  the  chief  mart  of  trade.  The  ex- 
travagant hopes  at  first  entertained  in  regard  to  the  precious 
metals  had  not  been  realized,  but  the  search  for  them  had 
attracted  hither  many  immigrants,  some  of  whom  had  now 
made  such  progress  in  agriculture  as  to  be  self-sustaining. 
Illinois  contained  at  this  time  several  flourishing  settle- 
ments, the  inhabitants  of  which  were  more  exclusively 
devoted  to  the  cultivation  of  the  soil  than  in  any  other 
part  of  the  province. 

It  has  been  observed  by  an  Illinois  historian,  that  all 
industrial  enterprises  were,  to  a  great  extent,  paralyzed  by 
the  arbitrary  exactions  of  the  "company;"  that  the  agri- 
culturists, the  miners,  and  the  fur-traders  of  Illinois  were 
held  in  a  sort  of  vassalage,  which  enabled  those  in  power 
to  dictate  the  price  at  which  they  should  sell  their  products, 
and  the  amount  they  should  pay  them  for  imported  mer- 
chandise ;  and  that  the  interest  of  the  company  was  always 
at  variance  with  that  of  the  producer. 

All  of  this  might  have  been,,  and  perhaps  was,  sub- 
stantially true.  But  "  whoever  takes  a  correct  view  of  the 
transactions  of  the  Mississippi  Company,"  says  Major  Stod- 
dard,  "must  be  convinced  that  it  was  of  infinite  utility  to 


Benefits  of  its  Sway  in  Louisiana.  287 

Louisiana,  perhaps  the  preservation  of  it."  *  Judge  Breese 
also  takes  a  very  favorable  view  of  the  rule  of  the  great  cor- 
poration in  the  Illinois.  He  writes  : 

"  Their  sway  here  was  more  in  name  than  in  fact ;  for, 
setting  aside  their  power  to  grant  lands,  all  real  control  of 
the  people  (in  Illinois)  was  with  the  Jesuits.  Their  busi- 
ness pursuits  were  but  little  interfered  with,  and  no  arbi- 
trary or  forced  exactions  of  their  little  abundance  were 
made.  They  did  not  find,  as  is  too  often  the  case  in  others, 
in  this  overshadowing  monopoly,  whose  sole  principle  of 
aggregation  was  wealth,  a  cruel  and  heartless  tyrant,  ready 
and  willing,  in  the  various  modes  such  corporations  can  de- 
vise, to  plunder  them  of  their  small  revenues,  or  oppress 
them  in  any  form.  In  their  relations  to  it,  it  was  as  the 
benefactor  to  the  benefited ;  and  though  the  fortunes  of  its 
proprietors  were  wrecked,  the  colony  itself  received  a  new 
and  immense  impulse  from  its  varied  operations."  f 

*"  Historical  Sketches  of  Louisiana"  (Phila.,  Pa.,  1812),  p.  61. 
t"  Early  History  of  Illinois,"  p.  180. 


288  Louisiana  Under  the  Crown. 


CHAPTER   XV. 

1732-1752. 
LOUISIANA    UNDER   THE    DIRECT    GOVERNMENT   OF   THE    CROWN. 

When  the  Royal  India  Company,  successor  to  the 
Company  of  the  West,  gave  up  its  charter  and  vast  privi- 
leges to  the  crown,  another  government  was  at  once  organ- 
ized for  the  Province  of  Louisiana,  which  severed  it  from 
New  France,  and  continued  Illinois  as  a  dependency  of 
Louisiana.  By  letters  patent  of  the  7th  of  May,  1732,  the 
Superior  Council  of  the  province  was  re-organized,  with 
Perier  as  governor,  Salmon  as  intendant  commissary,  and 
Loubois  and  d'Artaguette  (Diron)  as  king's  lieutenants. 
The  ecclesiastical  affairs  of  the  colony  were  under  the. 
more  immediate  supervision  of  a  vicar-general,  residing  in 
New  Orleans. 

In  1733  the  Canadian,  Bienville,  much  to  his  own  sat- 
isfaction and  that  of  his  friends,  was  re-appointed  governor 
of  Louisiana  in  place  of  Perier,  who  was  promoted  to  the 
rank  of  lieutenant-general  as  a  reward  for  his  important 
services  in  the  colony.  The  new  commandant-general 
reached  New  Orleans  early  in  173^,  and  the  Sieur  Perier, 
resigning  the  government  into  his  hands,  immediately  em- 
barked for  France. 

During  that  year  Captain  Pierre  d'Artaguette  was  ap- 
pointed by  Governor  Bienville  major-commandant  for  the 
district  of  the  Illinois,  with  head-quarters  at  Fort  Chartres. 
He  was  a  younger  brother  of  Diron  d'Artaguette,  the  com- 
missaire  ordonnateur  of  Louisiana,  and  one  of  the  most 
conspicuous  men  in  the  province.  Pierre  d'Artaguette  had 
served  with  gallantry  in  the  Natchez  war,  and  was  after- 
ward sent  by  Perier  to  command  at  the  new  fort,  which 


The  Chickasaw  Nation.  289 

was  built  on  the  site  of  the  old  one  at  Natchez.*  After 
his  transfer  to  the  Illinois  he  had  no  pleasant  path  to  tread, 
as  was  the  case  with  his  predecessors. 

The  Chickasaw  Indians — the  Iroquois  of  the  South — 
had  all  along  preferred  an  alliance  with  the  English  colo- 
nists of  Carolina,  and  had  been  stimulated  by  artful  emis- 
saries of  the  latter  (if  they  required  any  stimulus)  to  re- 
peated deeds  of  rapine  and  blood  against  the  French,  who 
were  waiting  a  favorable  opportunity  to  make  them  feel 
the  weight  of  their  resentment.  The  Chickasaws  were 
known  to  Europeans,  or  at  least  to  the  Spaniards,  from  the 
time  of  De  Soto.  They  inhabited  the  country  intermediate 
between  Upper  and  Lower  Louisiana,  extending  eastward 
from  the  Mississippi  River  into  Alabama,  and  northward 
through  Western  Tennessee.  They  were  a  less  numerous 
people  than  the  Cherokees,  or  even  the  Choctaws,  but  they 
made  up  in  craft  and  pugnacity  what  they  lacked  in  num- 
bers. The  presence  of  the  Chickasaws  in  roaming  bands 
on  the  eastern  banks  of  the  Mississippi  not  only  rendered 
navigation  perilous,  but  seriously  interfered  with  trade  be- 
tween Kaskaskia  and  New  Orleans,  and  many  of  the 
French  boatmen  and  voyageurs  successively  fell  victims  to 
their  muskets  and  tomahawks.  Such,  indeed,  was  the  ani- 
mosity of  this  people  that  they  sent  emissaries  to  the  tribes 
of  the  Illinois  to  detach  them  from  their  long-established 
friendship  with  the  French  settlers,  and  to  persuade  them 
to  make  war  upon  and  exterminate  the  latter.  But  the 
Illinois  rejected  the  proposition  with  scorn,  and  sent  a 


*  The  new  Fort  Rosalie,  as  seen  and  described  by  Captain  Pittman, 
in  1766,  stood  on  the  east  side  of  the  Mississippi,  about  six  hundred 
and  seventy  yards  from  the  river,  and  at  an  elevation  of. one  hundred 
and  eighty  feet  above  the  usual  water  line.  The  fort  was  an  irregular 
pentagon,  without  bastions,  and  was  built  of  sawn  or  hewed  plank  five 
inches  thick.  The  buildings  within  the  walls  were  a  store-house,  a 
house  for  the  officers,  a  barrack  for  the  soldiers,  and  a  guard-house. 
These  houses  were  constructed  of  framed  timbers,  the  spaces  between 
being  filled  with  mud  and  Spanish  moss.  The  fort  was  surrounded  on 
three  sides  by  a  dry  ditch,  and  the  fourth  or  north  side  was  fenced  with 
pickets.  Some  traces  of  the  ruins  of  this  fort  are  said  to  be  still  visible 
at  Natchez. 
19 


290  Louisiana  Under  the  Crown. 

deputation,  headed  by  their  principal  chief,  Checagou,  to 
New  Orleans  to  oifer  their  services  to  the  governor.  In  an 
interview  with  Bienville  the  chief  presented  the  pipe  of 
friendship,  saying:  "  This  is  the  pipe  of  peace  or  war ;  you 
have  but  to  speak,  and  our  braves  will  strike  the  nations 
that  are  your  foes."  * 

By  authority  of  the  King  of  France  an  invasion  of  the 
Chickasaw  country  was  now  projected,  with  the  three-fold 
purpose  of  re-establishing  safe  communication  between  the 
northern  and  southern  districts  of  the  province,  of  reducing 
those  truculent  savages  to  submission,  and  of  driving  the 
English  traders  from  among  them.  The  French  were  not 
wanting  in  a  plausible  pretext  for  commencing  hostilities. 
Many  of  the  Natchez  Indians  who  escaped  the  war  of  ex- 
tirpation against  them  had  taken  refuge  among  the  Chick  - 
asaws,  and  become  incorporated  with  that  nation,  where 
they  continued  to  cherish  their  hatred  of  the  French.  Be- 
fore the  beginning  of  the  year  1736,  Governor  Bienville 
made  a  demand  on  the  Chickasaws  for  the  surrender  of 
those  fugitives,  and  foreseeing  that  his  demand  was  not 
likely  to  be  complied  with,  he  assembled  an  army  to  march 
against  them.  Great  preparations  were  made,  considering 
the  military  strength  of  the  colony,  to  render  the  expedi- 
tion successful.  In  addition  to  the  regulars  and  militia 
raised  in  Southern  Louisiana,  the  Governor  sent  Captain 
Leblanc  up  the  river  to  Fort  Chartres  with  orders  to  the 
Sieur  d'Artaguette,  commandant  of  the  district,  to  get  in 
readiness  the  troops  under  his  command,  together  with 
such  of  the  Illinois  and  other  Indians  as  could  be  induced 
to  join  the  expedition.  D'Artaguette  was  further  ordered 
to  be  in  the  Chickasaw  country,  with  his  forces,  by  the 
10th  of  the  ensuing  May,  and  to  there  await  the  arrival  of 
the  commander-in-chief  and  his  army  from  the  south. 

On  the  4th  of  March,  1736,  Bienville  embarked  at  New 
Orleans,  with  a  force  of  five  hundred  and  fifty-four  French- 
men and  forty -five  negroes,  for  Fort  Mobile,  the  rendez- 
vous of  the  troops.  Resting  here  until  Easter-day,  the  first 
of  April,  the  army  began  to  ascend  the  river  in  bateaux 

*  Bancroft's  History,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  365. 


Sienville's  Expedition  Against  the  Chickasaws.        291 

and  pirogues,  which  moved  in  line  by  force  of  oars.  On 
the  20th  the  army  reached  a  place  called  Tombecbe  (Tom- 
bigbee),  to  which  the  governor  had  sent  a  company  of  sol- 
diers nine  months  before  to  build  a  fort,  intending  it  as  a 
place  of  defense  and  a  depot  of  supplies.  This  fort  was 
on  the  Tombigbee  River,  and  within  the  territory  of  the 
Choctaws.  The  artillery  which  the  French  had  brought 
with  them  was  now  placed  in  position,  and  its  discharge 
broke,  for  the  first  time,  the  stillness  of  the  surrounding 
forest.  Here  the  Choctaw  chiefs,  in  consideration  of  a 
certain  quantity  of  merchandise,  joined  Bienville's  expe- 
dition with  over  six  hundred  of  their  warriors.  Re-em- 
barking on  the  4th  of  May,  and  continuing  to  ascend  the 
river,  the  troops  reached  the  place  of  debarkation  on  the 
24th  of  that  month.  They  were  now  within  seven  or  eight 
leagues  of  the  nearest  and  principal  Chickasaw  village, 
which  was  situated  only  a  few  miles  from  the  present 
county  town  of  Pontotoc,  in  Northern  Mississippi, — a  town 
which  still  preserves  the  name  of  the  Indian  stronghold. 

On  the  25th  of  May  (two  weeks  behind  the  pre- 
arranged time),  the  commander  formed  his  army  in  two 
columns,  and  marched  to  within  two  leagues  of  *the  Chick- 
asaw village,  when  he  halted  for  the  night.  Early  the 
next  morning  the  impetuous  Choctaws  rushed  forward 
upon  the  village,  expecting  to  take  it  by  a  coup  de  main. 
But  they  found  the  Chickasaws  awake  and  ready  to  receive 
them ;  and  not  only  so,  but  protected  by  a  strong  fortifi- 
cation of  earth  and  timbers,  which  had  been  constructed 
under  the  supervision  of  some  resident  English  traders. 
During  that  day  Bienville  made  two  vigorous  attempts  to 
carry  the  enemy's  works  by  storm,  but  was  repulsed  both 
times,  and  sustained  a  loss  of  thirty-two  killed  and  sixty 
wounded,  including  several  commissioned  officers.  He 
was,  therefore,  compelled  to  draw  off'  his  army,  leaving  his 
dead  on  the  field  of  battle. 

During  the  night  of  the  26th,  a  party  of  Indians  ar- 
rived from  another  village,  as  they  claimed,  to  present  the 
calumet  and  a  letter  to  Bienville ;  but,  provoked  by  the  re- 
verses of  the  day,  he  refused  to  receive  them,  and  ordered 


292  Louisiana  Under  the  Crown. 

his  Indians  to  attack  them,  which  they  did.*  By  this  rash 
conduct,  the  commanding  general  probably  lost  his  only 
opportunity  of  opening  communication  with  D'Artaguette 
and  his  associate  officers,  who  were  then  prisoners  in  the 
hands  of  the  Chickasaws. 

On  the  next  day  there  was  some  skirmishing  between 
the  Choctaw  and  Chickasaw  warriors,  but  without  any  de- 
cisive result.  Discouraged  at  his  unexpected  failure,  con- 
vinced of  his  inability  to  reduce  the  enemy's  formidable 
works  without  cannon  and  the  means  of  siege,  and  hearing 
nothing  from  the  army  that  was  to  co-operate  with  him 
from  the  Illinois,  Bienville  now  reluctantly  abandoned  the 
expedition.  Dismissing  his  Indian  auxiliaries,  he  made  a 
retrograde  march  to  his  boats,  and  descended  the  river  to 
Fort  Tombecbe.  On  arriving  there,  it  is  told  that  he  threw 
the  iron  cannon  belonging  to  the  fort  into  the  river,  to 
prevent  their  falling  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy,  and  re- 
turned to  New  Orleans  covered  with  humiliation  at  his  dis- 
astrous defeat. 

Prior  to  these  occurrences,  however,  Major  d'Arta- 
guette  had  set  out  from  Fort  Chartres  in  the  last  week  of 
February,  with  thirty  regular  soldiers,  one  hundred  volun- 
teers (including  the  Jesuit  father  Senat)  and  two  hundred 
Illinois  and  Missouri  Indians,  and  descended  the  Missis- 
sippi to  the  site  of  Fort  Prudhomme,  at  the  Third  Chicka- 
saw Bluff.  Here  he  was  soon  after  joined  by  the  Sieur  de 
Vincennes,  from  the  Wabash,  with  twenty  Frenchmen  and 
about  one  hundred  Miamis  braves.  The  Sieur  de  Mon- 
cherval  was  also  daily  expected,  with  a  contingent  of  Ca- 
hokias  and  Michigamies  from  the  Illinois.  Leaving  a  de- 
tachment at  the  river  landing,  to  guard  the  canoes  and 
heavier  baggage,  Major  d'Artaguette  set  forward  on  his 
march  into  the  Chickasaw  country,  and  advanced  by  slow 
stages  in  order  to  give  Moncherval  a  chance  to  overtake 
him.  But  that  officer  did  not  arrive  in  time  to  participate 
in  the  approaching  battle.  Having  reached  the  appointed 
rendezvous,  which  was  on  the  head-waters  of  the  Yalo- 
busha,  on  the  9th  of  May,  D'Artaguette  waited  ten  days 

*  Dumont's  Historical  Memoir  of  Louisiana. 


D'Artaguette' s  Ill-fated  Expedition.  293 

for  the  appearance  of  the  commander-in-chief,  ready  to 
unite  with  him  attacking  the  enemy. 

Meanwhile,  according  to  Mr.  Gayarre,  a  courier 
reached  his  camp  with  a  letter,  said  to  have  been  written 
by  Bienville,  stating  that  in  consequence  of  unexpected  ob- 
stacles and  delays,  he  would  not  be  able  to  reach  the  Chick- 
asaws at  the  time  designated,  and  authorizing  him  to  act  on 
his  own  military  judgment.  D'Artaguette  thereupon  con- 
vened a  council  of  war,  composed  of  his  principal  officers 
and  the  Indian  chiefs,  and  at  this  council  it  was  resolved  to 
make  an  immediate  attack  upon  the  enemy's  stronghold. 
Accordingly,  about  the  20th  of  May,  having  formed  his 
impatient  forces  in  order  of  battle — forces  who  had  the 
courage  to  strike,  without  the  discretion  to  wait  the  proper 
time — the  commander  led  them  against  the  Chickasaws. 
The  charge  was  daring  and  impetuous,  and  the  enemy  was 
successively  driven  from  two  of  his  intrenched  positions, 
but  in  the  assault  upon  the  third  D'Artaguette  was  se- 
verely wounded  and  disabled,  at  the  moment  when  the 
victory  seemed  within  his  grasp.  Panic-struck  at  the  fall 
of  their  leader,  his  Indian  confederates,  the  Illinois  and 
Missouris,  precipitately  retreated,  and  were  hotly  pursued 
for  twenty -five  leagues  by  the  Chickasaws,  in  the  flush  of 
triumph.  The  Miamis,  from  the  Wabash,  appear  to  have 
been  guilty  of  deliberate  treachery,  they  having  been  pre- 
viously tampered  with  by  English  agents.* 

Father  Senat  and  the  chivalrous  DeVincennes  might 
have  both  escaped,  but  the  former,  true  to  his  profession, 
stayed  to  console  the  wounded  and  dying,  while  the  latter 
was  so  devoted  to  his  unfortunate  chief,  that  he  would  not 
leave  him  in  peril,  "preferring  rather  to  share  his  captivity, 
and,  if  necessary,  to  die  by  his  side."  As  a  consequence, 
they,  with  some  fifteen  other  Frenchmen,  including  a 
brother  of  Captain  Louis  St.  Ange,  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 
Chickasaws..  The  prisoners  were,  at  first,  civilly  treated  by 
their  captors,  who  expected  to  receive  a  large  reward  from 

*  See  "  History  of  Louisiana,"  by  Chas.  Gayarre  (New  Orleans,  1885), 
3d  ed.,  vol.  II.,  pp.  485-6. 


294  Louisiana  Under  the  Crown. 

the  French  for  their  safe  return.  But,  after  the  discomfiture 
and  retreat  of  Bienville's  army,  the  Chickasaw  chiefs  aban- 
doned hope  of  securing  an  adequate  ransom  for  their  pris- 
oners, and  prepa'red  to  make  them  the  victims  of  a  savage 
triumph.  To  this  end  they  were  taken  to  a  neighboring 
field  and  bound  by  fours  to  stakes ;  and  neither  valor  nor 
piety  could  save  them  from  being  tortured  to  death  by  slow 
and  intermitting  fires.  Two  of  the  number  were  reserved 
to  be  exchanged  for  a  Chickasaw  warrior,  who  had  been 
made  prisoner  by  the  French. 

After  this  cruel  manner  perished  the  gallant  D'Arta- 
guette,  the  faithful  Senat,  and  the  heroic  De  Vincennes. 
We  would  not  withhold  the  meed  of  sympathy  due  them 
in  their  direful  fate.  At  the  same  time  it  must  not  be 
forgotten  that,  in  hazarding  an  assault  upon  the  enemy  in 
his  fortified  position,  before  the  arrival  of  the  main  army 
under  Bienville,  they  invited  the  very  fate  that  befell  them, 
and  destroyed  the  chances  of  French  victory  in  that  cam- 
paign. 

The  Chickasaws  were  now  more  defiant  than  ever,  and 
being  elated  with  vanity  over  their  success  in  repelling  the 
attacks  of  two  French  and  Indian  armies,  they  sent  a  depu- 
tation of  chiefs  to  announce  their  triumph  to  the  English 
authorities  in  Carolina,  with  whom  they  renewed  their  alli- 
ance, and  by  whom  they  were  supplied  with  arms  and 
ammunition,  as  well  as  merchandise. 

Ambitious  to  retrieve  his  own  military  reputation,  and 
also  to  recover  the  lost  prestige  of  the  French  arms  in 
Louisiana,  Governor  Bienville  resolved  upon  a  second  cam- 
paign against  the  Chickasaws ;  but  it  was  not  until  after 
receiving  reinforcements  from  France  that  he  was  able  to 
renew  this  arduous  enterprise.  In  the  spring  of  1739,  hav- 
ing previously  obtained  the  sanction  of  the  French  Minister 
of  Colonies,  he  again  began  active  preparations  for  the  sub- 
jugation of  that  fierce  tribe,  which  had  so  successfully  de- 
fied his  power  and  authority.  Orders  were  sent  out  to 
commandants  of  the  various  military  posts  in  the  province 
to  furnish  as  many  troops  as  possible,  which  resulted  in  the 
assembling  of  the  largest  and  best  appointed  army  hitherto 


Bienville's  Second  Campaign.  295 

seen  in  Louisiana.  The  general  rendezvous  was  at  first 
fixed  on  the  St.  Francis  River,  just  above  its  junction  with 
the  Mississippi,  where  a  fort  and  cabins  were  erected  to 
serve  as  a  basis  of  operations.  The  commandant-general 
arrived  at  this  post  toward  the  end  of  June,  and  in  August 
he  embarked  his  army  and  moved  up  to  the  mouth  of  Wolf 
River,  a  small  stream  which  falls  into  the  Mississippi  near 
the  present  city  of  Memphis.  Here,  on  the  bluff,  another 
and  larger  fort  was  built,  with  a  house  for  the  commandant, 
barracks  for  the  soldiers,  store-houses,  etc.  It  received  the 
name  of  Fort  Assumption,, because  the  troops  landed  here 
on  that  day. 

At  this  fort  the  army  received  reinforcements  from  the 
north.  The  first  to  arrive  was  the  Illinois  force,  composed 
of  about  two  hundred  Frenchmen  and  three  hundred  In- 
dians, commanded  by  Alphonse  cle  Buissoniere,  who  had 
succeeded  the  unfortunate  D'Artaguette  as  commandant  at 
Fort  Chartres.  After  that  came  Captain  de  Celeron  and 
Lieutenant  de  St.  Laurent,  with  thirty  cadets  from  Canada, 
and  a  large  following  of  Indians.  These  united  troops  made 
a  formidable  army,  numbering  twelve  hundred  Frenchmen, 
and  double  as  many  Indians  and  negroes.  Owing  in  part 
to  the  difficulty  in  procuring  supplies,  which  had  to  be 
brought  a  long  distance,  this  large  body  of  troops  was  al- 
lowed to  remain  here  in  inactivity  for  six  months.*  In  the 
meantime,  provisions  became  so  scarce  that  they  had  to  kill 
and  eat  their  horses,  and  sickness  breaking  out  in  the  camp 
carried  oft'  a  great  number.  Such  were  the  ravages  of 
disease  and  famine,  that  by  the  first  of  March,  1740,  not 
more  than  two  hundred  French  soldiers  were  fit  for  active 
service. 

In  these  straits,  Governor  Bienville  sent  the  Sieur  de 
Celeron,  with  a  body  of  French  and  Indian  troops,  to  the 
Chickasaws,  with  orders,  in  case  they  sued  for  peace,  to  grant 
it  in  his  name.  When  Celeron  arrived  with  his  force  in  sight 
of  the  enemy's  fort,  the  Chickasaws,  believing  him  to  be 

*  Mr.  "Gayarre  attributes  Bienville's  inaction  to  his  jealousy  of 
Noailles,  who  had  been  sent  to  command  the  army. 


296  Louisiana  under  the  Crown. 

followed  by  the  whole  French  army,  sent  to  him  to  ask  for 
peace,  promising  to  renounce  their  English  alliance  and  re- 
sume friendly  relations  with  the  French.  To  confirm  this 
agreement,  a  party  of  their  chiefs  returned  with  Celeron  to 
Fort  Assumption,  and  there  entered  into  a  treaty  of  pacifi- 
cation with  the  governor,  which  was  ratified  with  the  cus- 
tomary Indian  ceremonies.  Bienville  now  dismissed  his 
Indian  auxiliaries,  having  first  paid  them  off  in  goods,  after 
which  he  demolished  his  two  forts,  as  being  of  no  further 
use,  and  re-embarked  for  New  Orleans.* 

So  ended,  in  April,  1740,  the  second  campaign  against 
the  Chickasaws.  It  was  less  inglorious  and  disastrous 
than  the  first,  but  its  results  were  far  from  satisfactory,  and 
by  no  means  commensurate  with  the  costly  preparations 
that  had  been  made.  Having  failed  to  redeem  his  tarnished 
military  record,  and  the  prestige  of  the  French  arms  in  the 
colony,  the  commandant-general  thereby  incurred  the  dis- 
pleasure of  his  sovereign,  and  for  this  and  other  reasons  he 
was,  in  no  long  time,  removed  from  office.  Toward  the 
close  of  the  year  1742,  he  was  superseded  by  Pierre  Fran- 
cois de  Rigaud,  Marquis  de  Vaudreuil-Cavagnal,  a  native 
of  Quebec,  and  a  man  of  distinguished  family  and  social 
connections. 

Thus  closed  the  official  career  of  Jean  Baptiste  le 
Moyne,  Sieur  de  Bienville,  in  Louisiana, — a  career  which, 
with  some  interruptions,  extended  through  a  period  of 
forty-three  years,  and  which  is  without  a  parallel  in  French- 
American  history.  Born  at  Montreal,  in  February,  1680, 
he  was  nineteen  years  the  junior  of  his  celebrated  brother, 
D'Iberville,  who  introduced  him  when  a  mere  lad  into  the 
naval  service,  took  him  with  him  to  Hudson's  Bay,  and 
afterward  on  his  first  colonizing  expedition  to  the  Missis- 
sippi. Age  and  care  had  now  cooled  the  ardor  and  energy 
of  Bienville's  prime,  and  the  luster  of  the  honors  achieved 
in  former  years  was  obscured  under  a  cloud  of  court  cen- 
sure, some  of  which,  at  least,  was  undeserved.  In  May, 


*  For  more  detailed  accounts  of  this  Chickasaw  war,  see  Durnont's, 
Martin's,  and  Gayarr^'s  Histories  of  Louisiana.  The  account  by  Du- 
mont  is  the  earliest  and  most  authentic. 


Retirement  of  Governor  JBienville.  297 

1743,  he  sailed  from  New  Orleans  for  France,  thus  leaving 
Louisiana  forever.  Although  under  the  displeasure  of  the 
court  the  colonists  were  loud  in  expressing  their  regrets  at 
his  departure  ;  and  whatever  errors  or  mistakes,  insepara- 
ble from  human  nature,  he  may  have  committed,  his  pop- 
ularity in  the  province,  where  he  had  mostly  lived  from 
early  manhood  to  old  age,  had  never  been  seriously  shaken. 
He  has  been  justly  styled  the  Father  of  the  Louisiana  col- 
ony, of  which  his  brother  D'Iberville  was  the  founder. 
He  left  behind  him  a  code,  sometimes  called  Le  Code  Noir, 
which  was  first  promulgated  in  1724,  regulating  the  condi- 
tion of  the  slaves,  banishing  the  Jews,  and  prohibiting  the 
exercise  of  every  religion  except  the  Roman  Catholic.  This 
code,  with  some  modifications,  remained  in  force  in  Louis- 
iana until  the  cession  of  that  country  to  the  government 
of  the  United  States,  when  it  was  abolished,  excepting 
so  much  of  it  as  related  to  the  African  slaves.  After  re- 
turning to  France,  Bienville  lived  for  over  twenty  years  in 
dignified  retirement  at  Paris. 

But  to  return  to  Louisiana.  After  the  peace  of  1740 
with  the  Chickasaws,  all  the  other  aboriginal  tribes  in  the 
immediate  Valley  of  the  Mississippi  recognized  the  domin- 
ion of  France,  and  became  allies  or  friends  of  her  colonists. 
Trade  with  the  natives  was  now  renewed  and  enlarged, 
and  agriculture,  freed  from  former  restrictions,  took  on  a 
new  life.  The  culture  of  fruit  became  general.  The  or- 
ange, the  lemon,  and  the  fig  tree  began  to  blossom  about 
the  houses  on  the  Lower  Mississippi,  and  near  the  shores 
of  the  gulf;  while  farther  to  the  north  the  apple,  the  peach, 
the  apricot,  and  the  plum  were  successfully  grown.  The 
sweet  potato^  and  the  jnelon,  extending  over  a  wide  range 
of  latitude,  also  contributed  largely  to  the  sustenance  of 
the  people.  Sugar-cane  was  brought  by  the  Jesuits  from 
St.  Domingo  as  early  as  1744,  and  was  first  cultivated  by 
them  in  their  gardens  at  New  Orleans.*  It  was  before  this 

*  In  1758,  M.  de  Breuil  opened  a  sugar  plantation  on  a  large  scale, 
and  erected  the  first  sugar  mill  in  Louisiana.  His  plantation  occupied 
the  lower  part  of  New  Orleans,  known  as  the  suburb  of  St.  Marigny.— 
Reynold^  Pioneer  History,  second  edition,  p.  64. 


298  Louisiana  Under  the  Crown. 

time  that  indigo  began  to  be  raised  for  export.  The  cotton 
plant  was  not  introduced  until  some  years  later,  when  it 
was  successfully  cultivated  as  far  north  as  the  Ohio.  Every 
vessel  arriving  from  France  added  to  the  population  of  the 
southern  settlements;  and  many  Canadians,  fleeing  from 
the  rigor  of  their  northern  winters,  sought  homes  and  hap- 
piness in  the  more  genial  climate  of  the  Illinois.  Under 
the  stimulus  of  private  and  associate  enterprise,  commerce 
between  the  northern  and  southern  districts  of  the  prov- 
ince, and  between  New  Orleans  and  foreign  ports,  was 
largely  augmented.  Cargoes  of  flour,  bacon,  tallow,  pelts 
and  lead  were  annually  transported  in  bateaux  to  New 
Orleans,  and  thence  reshipped  to  the  West  Indies  or  to 
France,  in  exchange  for  rice,  sugar,  indigo,  and  goods  of 
European  manufacture.  The  different  districts  of  the  prov- 
ince were  mutually  dependent,  and,  by  means  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi and  its  numerous  large  tributaries,  supplied  with 
facility  each  other's  wants.  Upon  the  whole,  the  decade 
from  1742  to  1752  was  one  of  unwonted  prosperity  in  the 
French  history  of  Louisiana.* 

After  some  ten  years  of  comparative  peace  and  quiet, 
the  Chickasaws,  notwithstanding  their  existing  treaty  obli- 
gations, renewed  their  depredations  upon  the  French  colo- 
nists, and  again  interrupted  their  trade  on  the  Mississippi 
River.  To  curb  the  marauding  disposition  of  these  savages, 
and  coerce  them  into  submission,  Governor  de  Vaudreuil  un- 
dertook another  armed  expedition  to  their  forest  fastnesses. 
Embarking  at  New  Orleans,  in  1752,  with  seven  hundred 
regular  soldiers,  he  was  joined  on  the  way  by  a  horde  of 
Choctaw  braves,  ready  for  the  fray.  His  route  was  up  the 
Mobile  and  Tombigbee  Rivers,  th'e  same  as  that  taken  by 
Bienville  in  1736.  He  had  cannon,  munitions,  and  supplies 
in  abundance ;  yet,  like  his  predecessor,  he  failed  to  van- 
quish the  stubborn  Chickasaws,  who  avoided  an  open  battle, 
and  shut  themselves  up  in  their  fortresses.  The  French 
commander,  however,  destroyed  some  of  their  deserted 


*  Davidson  and  Stuve's  History,  p.  127. 


The  Beginning  of  Vincennes.  299 

villages,  and  left  a  strong  garrison  at  Fort  Tombecbe  to 
hold  them  in  restraint. 

Reference  having  been  made  to  the  Sieur  de  Vincennes, 
and  to  the  sad  fate  that  befell  him  in  the  first  campaign  of 
the  Chickasaw  war,  the  inquiring  reader  may  desire  to 
know  something  more  of  his  history,  and  also  of  the  ori- 
gin of  the  French  village  (now  city)  which  is  indissolubly 
linked  with  his  memory.  Jean  Baptiste  Bissot,  Sieur  de 
Vincennes  was  the  tenth  child  of  M.  Francois  Bissot,  a 
leading  merchant  of  Quebec,  and  was  there  born  in  Janu- 
ary, 1688.  He  appears  to  have  been  a  relative  of  Joliet, 
the  explorer,  who  was  probably  an  uncle  by  marriage. 
Early  bred  to  the  profession  of  arms,  young  De  Vincennes 
was  sent  out  to  the  West,  where  he  soon  became  noted  for 
his  activity  and  enterprise.  In  1704,  with  a  party  of  Cana- 
dian troops,  he  attacked  an  Ottawa  band,  and  rescued  from 
them  some  Iroquois  prisoners  that  had  been  taken  in  viola- 
tion of  treaties,  thus  averting  a  cause  of  war  with  the  latter 
nation.  In  the  autumn  of  1705,  he  was  sent  by  Governor 
de  Vaudreuil*  on  a  mission  to  the  Miamis,  who  then  prin- 
cipall}'  occupied  the  territory  immediately  to  the  north-west 
of  the  Upper  Wabash.  In  1712  he  took  part  in  the  defense 
of  Detroit  from  an  invasion  of  the  Fox  Indians,  and  during 
that  year  was  again  sent  as  an  agent  to  the  Miamis. 

As  early  as  1719,  De  Vincennes  jprobably  established, 
or  aided  in  establishing,  the  trading  post  on  the  Wabash 
which  still  bears  his  name;  for  it  was  about  this  time  that 
Fort  Ouatanon,  higher  up  the  river,  was  also  founded  by 
the  French.  A  more  ancient  date  than  this  has  been 
claimed  for  the  first  settlement  at  Vincennes,  but  it  doubt- 
less originated  in  the  confounding  of  the  Wabash  and 
Lower  Ohio  together  as  one  stream. 

"  Before  the  close  of  the  year  1702  (says  Dillon's  His- 
tory of  Indiana,  p.  21),  the  Sieur  Juchereau,  a  Canadian 
officer,  assisted  by  the  Jesuit  missionary  Mermet,  made  an 


*  This  was  Philippe  de  Rigaud,  Marquis  de  Vaudreuil,  who  had 
been  appointed  governor  of  Canada  in  1703,  to  succeed  M.  de  Callieres. 
He  was  the  father  of  that  Marquis  de  Vaudreuil,  who  became  succes- 
sively governor  of  Louisiana  and  of  Canada. 


300  Louisiana  under  the  Crown. 

attempt  to  establish  a  post  on  the  Ohio,  near  the  mouth  of 
that  river ;  or,  according  to  some  authorities,  on  the  Wabash 
at  the  site  now  occupied  by  Vincennes."  But  La  Harpe,* 
and  after  him  Charlevoix,  fix  the  position  of  that  post  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Ouabache  (Ohio),  which  discharges  itself  into 
the  Mississippi.  It  was  probably  on  the  site  of  the  more 
modern  Fort  Massac,  and  the  date  of  its  establishment  is 
fixed  by  some  French  writers  in  the  year  1700. 

The  neighboring  Mascoutins,  who  later  became  asso- 
ciated with  the  Kickapoos,  soon  gathered  about  this  post 
on  the  Ohio  for  the  purpose  of  barter,  and  Father  Mermet 
undertook,  without  success,  to  convert  them  to  Christianity. 
In  1705,  or  thereabouts,  the  post  was  broken  up  in  conse- 
quence of  the  increasing  hostility  of  the  Indians,  and  the 
French  traders  fled,  leaving  their  effects  behind  them.f 

*  "  In  1702  M.  Juchereau,  a  French  officer  of  Montreal,  accompanied 
by  thirty-four  Canadians,  attempted  to  form  a  settlement  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Ouabache,  to  collect  buffalo  skins."— Extract  from  La  Harpe's 
Journal,  dated  Feb.  8,  1703,  cited  in  Dillon's  Hist,  of  Ind.,  p.  400. 

f'Acording  to  the  authority  of  La  Harpe,  and  the  later  historian 
Charlevoix,  the  French,  in  the  year  1700,  established  a  trading  post  near 
the  mouth  of  the  Ohio,  on  the  site  of  the  more  modern  Fort  Massac,  in 
Massac  county,  111.,  for  the  purpose  of  securing  buffalo  hides.  The 
neighboring  Mascoutins,  as  was  customary  with  the  Indians,  soon  gath- 
ered about  it  for  the  purpose  of  barter.  Their  numbers,  as  well  as  the 
expressed  wish  of  the  French  traders,  induced  Father  Merrnet  to  visit 
the  place  and  engage  in  mission  work.  At  the  end  of  four  or  five  years, 
in  1705,  the  establishment'  was  broken  up  on  account  of  a  quarrel  of 
the  Indians  among  themselves,  which  so  threatened  the  lives  of  the 
Frenchmen  that  the  latter  fled,  leaving  behind  them  their  effects  and 
thirteen  thousand  buffalo  skins  which  they  had  collected.  Some  years 
later,  Father  Marest,  writing  from  Kaskaskia,  relates  the  failure  of 
Father  Mermet  to  convert  the  Indians  at  this  post  on  the  Wabash ;  and 
on  the  authority  of  this  letter  alone,  and  although  Father  Marest  only 
followed  the  prevailing  style  of  calling  the  Lower  Ohio  the  Wabash, 
some  writers  (the  late  Judge  Law  being  the  first)  have  contended  that 
this  post  was  on  the  Wabash  and  at  Vincennes.  Charlevoix  says  '  it  was 
at  the  mouth' of  the  Wabash  which  discharges  itself  into  the  Mississippi.' 
La  Harpe,  and  also  Le  Sueur,  whose  personal  knowledge  of  the  post 
was  contemporaneous  with  its  existence,  definitely  fix  its  position*  near 
the  mouth  of  the  Ohio.  The  latter  gives  the  date  of  its  beginning,  and 
the  former  narrates  an  account  of  its  trade  and  final  abandonment.  In 
this  way  an  antiquity  has  been  claimed  for  Vincennes  to  which  it  is  not 


Early  History  of  Vincennes.  301 

When  the  French  first  explored  the  Wabash,  they 
found  the  land  on  either  side  of  the  lower  course  of  that 
stream  in  possession  of  the  Piankashaw  Indians;  and  Vin- 
cennes was  first  known  to  the  former  as  a  Piankashaw  vil- 
lage, by  the  name  of  Chip-pe-coke,  or  Brushwood.  It  was  a 
secluded  spot  on  the  eastern  bank  of  the  river,  about  one 
hundred  miles  above  its  mouth.  It  was  far  removed  from 
the  French  settlements  on  the  northern  lakes  and  on  the 
Mississippi,  and  during  many  years  it  was  a  mere  halting 
place  for  the  missionaries  and  fur-traders,  who  chose  to 
travel  southward  by  the  way  of  the  Maumee  and  the  Wa- 
bash. Of  this  sequestered  post  very  little  was  known  to 
the  outside  world  until  some  time  after  the  Sieur  de  Vin- 
cennes became  its  commandant.  The  priests  and  traders 
of  Kaskaskia  and  Cahokia  kept  up  some  intercourse  with 
the  place,  but  there  was  no  regular  communication  with  it. 
The  route  thither  by  river  was  circuitous  and  dangerous, 
while  the  Indian  "trace"  or  trail  across  the  intervening 
wilderness  of  Illinois  was  beset  by  roving  bands  of  blood- 
thirsty Kickapoos. 

Under  the  auspices  of  De  Vincennes,  who  built  an 
earthen  fort  there  about  tne  year  1725,  this  Wabash  post  t 
gradually  assumed  importance.  He  appears  to  have  granted  f 
lands,  in  small  parcels,  to  the  French  settlers  for  cultivation, 
and  from  the  neighboring  Indian  chiefs  they  received  a  gift 
of  more  than  two  thousand  acres,  which  they  appropriated 
chiefly  as  "  commons."  *  It  is  conjectured  by  Breese  that 
the  land  on  which  the  village  was  built,  and  the  "  common 
field"  as  well,  were  originally  granted  to  De  Vincennes  by 
the  India  Company,  or  by  the  governor  of  Louisiana  after 
the  dissolution  of  the  company  in  1732,  and  that  he,  as 


historically  entitled."—"  History  of  Vermilion  County,  Illinois,"  by  H. 
W.  Beckwith  (Chicago,  1879),  p.  102,  note. 

*"In  1742,  some  years  after  the  foundation  of  the  post  of  Vincennes, 
the  natives  of  the  country  made  the  French  and  their  heirs  an  absolute 
gift  of  the  lands  lying  between  the  point  above  and  the  river  Blanche 
(White)  below  the  village,  with  as  much  land  on  both  sides  as  might  be 
comprised  within  the  said  limits." — Dillon's  Hist,  of  Ind.,  p.  402.  See 
also  Memorial  signed  by  sixteen  of  the  inhabitants  of  Vincennes,  dated 
November  20,  1793,  and  addressed  to  the  president  of  the  United  States. 


302  Louisiana  Under  the  Crown. 

commandant,  parceled  it  out  in  small  allotments  to  the 
villagers.  But  however  this  might  be,  it  was  all  included 
within  the  dependency  of  the  Illinois,  and  differed  but  little 
from  the  other  villages  in  this  provincial  district. 

The  Sieur  de  Vincennes*  was  still  commanding  at  this 
post  in  1735,  and  until  the  spring  of  1736,  when  he  was 
summoned  by  Major  d'Artaguette  to  join  him,  with  a  force 
of  French  and  Miamis,  in  his  expedition  against  the  Chick  - 
asaws,  from  which  neither  of  these  French  officers  ever 
returned.  But  the  poet  village  which  the  former  had 
founded  was  thereafter  variously  known  as  Post  de  Vin- 
cennes, Au  Poste,  Post  Vincent,  Post  St.  Vincents,  and 
finally  Vincennes.  Louis  St.  Ange  de  Bellerive  succeeded 
De  Vincennes  in  command  of  the  post,  though  in  what 
year  is  undecided.  During  his  lengthy  incumbency,  and 
as  early  as  the  year  1749,  he  made  some  grants  or  deeds 
conveying  small  lots  of  land  to  different  settlers  in  the  vil- 
lage. These  were  executed  on  coarse  paper,  and  were 
signed  by  "St.  Ange,  commandant  au poste  Vincenne." 

In  1749,  a  mission  was  established,  under  charge  of  the 
missionary  Meurin,  at  the  Piankashaw  village,  which  stood 
near  the  site  of  Post  Vincennes.  In  the  course  of  the  next 
year,  1750,  a  small  stockade  fort  was  built  at  that  place,  and 
another  light  fortification  was  erected  about  the  same  time  at 
the  confluence  of  the  Wabash  and  the  Ohio.  Between  the 
years  1754  and  1756  the  white  population  of  Post  Vincennes 
was  considerably  augmented  by  the  arrival  of  immigrants 
from  Detroit,  Kaskaskia,  and  New  Orleans.  During  this  pe- 
riod the  French  settlers  at  Post  Vincent,  Ouatanon,f  and  the 


*  There  is  some  little  reason  for  supposing  that  there  were  two  men 
of  this  name  who  figured  in  the  Valley  of  the  Wabash  at  or  near  the 
same  time.  In  a  letter  addressed  to  the  Council  of  Marine,  written  at 
Quebec,  and  dated  October  28,  1719,  M.  de  Vaudreuil  says:  "I  learn 
from  the  last  letters  that  have  arrived  from  the  Miamis,  that  the  Sieur 
de  Vincennes  having  died  in  their  village,  these  Indians  have  resolved 
not  to  remove  to  the  river  St.  Joseph."  After  citing  the  above  extract 
in  his  history,  page  402,  Mr.  Dillon  observes :  "  This  report  of  the  death 
of  Vincenne  was  untrue;  or  there  was  soon  afterward,  in  the  West, 
another  French  officer  who  bore  the  name  of  M.  de  Vincenne." 

t  Ouiatenon,  Ouatanon,  or  Watanon,  stood  on  the  north  side  of  the 


Early  History  of  Vincennes.  303 

Twightee  village  near  the  site  of  Fort  Wayne,  enjoyed  a 
state  of  almost  unlimited  ease  and  freedom.  Living  in  the 
midst  of  the  forest  wilderness,  without  taxes  or  church 
rates,  and  in  friendship  with  the  neighboring  Indians,  they 
spent  their  days  in  hunting  and  fishing,  and  in  trading  for 
pelts  and  furs,  raising  a  few  vegetables  and  a  little  maize 
for  the  sustenance  of  their  families.  Many  of  them  inter- 
married with  the  daughters  of  the  red  men,  whose  amity 
was  thereby  secured  and  strengthened.* 


Wabash,  not  far  below  the  present  city  of  Lafayette.'  When 
George  Croghan  visited  this  post  in  July,  1765,  he-found  there  fourteen 
French  families  residing  within  the  stockade.  According  to  his  printed 
journal,  Vinceniies  then  contained  from  eighty  to  ninety  families,  and 
was  a  "  place  of  great  consequence  for  trade."  The  fort  was  garrisoned 
by  only  a  few  soldiers. 

*  Dillon's  Hist.  Ind.,  pp.  55  and  109. 


304  Events  in  the  Illinois  Dependency. 


CHAPTKR  XVI. 

1742-1756. 
PROGRESS    OF    EVENTS    IN    THE    DEPENDENCY    OF    ILLINOIS. 

In  1742,.  when  the  Marquis  de  Vaudreuil  was  made 
governor  of  Louisiana,  Captain  Benoist  de  St.  Clair  was 
major-commandant  of  the  Illinois,  having  been  appointed 
two  years  before  to  succeed  La  Buissoniere.  But,  early  in 
1743,  St.  Clair  was  superseded  by  the  Chevalier  de  Bertel, 
or  Berthel,  who  held  the  position  until  1748-9. 

Among  the  earlier  acts  of  his  provincial  administra- 
tion, Governor  de  Vaudreuil  confirmed  to  the  inhabitants 
of  Kaskaskia  their  right  of  "commons" — a  right  for  which 
they  had  petitioned  the  Royal  India  Company,  through 
their  commandant,  De  Liette,*  in  1727,  but  which  had  been 
until  now  wholly  disregarded.  It  will  be  remembered  that 
in  1719  M.  de  Boisbriant,  as  commandant  at  the  Illinois, 
had  granted  a  right  of  commons  to  the  citizens  of  Kaskas- 
kia,  but  had  neglected  to  put  his  grant  in  writing,  and  that 
upon  the  surrender  of  the  India  Company's  charter,  in  1732, 
the  whole  country  became  united  to  the  royal  domain,  so 
that  the  poor  villagers  continued  in  a  state  of  painful  un- 
certainty for  sixteen  years.  At  length,  in  June,  1743,  these 
loyal  subjects  of  the  French  king  addressed  a  respectful 
petition  to  the  new  provincial  governor  to  confirm  their 
title;  and  in  August  they  received  a  favorable  response 
thereto  in  writing,  of  which  the  following  is  the  more  im- 
portant part : 

"  Pierre  de  Rigault  de  Vaudreuil,  governor,  and  Edme. 
Gatien  Salmon,  commissary  orderer  of  the  Province  of 
Louisiana : — 

"  [Having]  seen  the  petition  to  us  presented  on  the  16th 


Breese  writes  this  name  De  Lielte,  and  Mason  De  Siette. 


Confirmation  of  Kaskaskia's  Right  of  Commons.       305 

day  of  June  of  this  present  year,  by  the  inhabitants  of  the 
parish  of  the  Immaculate  Conception  of  Kaskaskia,  de- 
pendence of  the  Illinois,  tending  to  be  confirmed  in  the 
possession  of  a  common  which  they  have  had  a  long  time 
for  the  pasturage  of  their  cattle,  in  the  point  called  La 
Pointe  de  Jlois,  which  runs  to  the  entrance  of  the  river  Kas- 
kaskia,  We,  by  virtue  of  the  power  to  us  granted  by  his 
majesty,  have  confirmed  and  do  confirm  to  the  said  inhab- 
itants the  possession  of  the  said  commons,  on  the  following 
conditions. 

[Then  follow  the  conditions  in  detail,  which  are  omit- 
ted here.] 

"  Given  at  New  Orleans,  the  14th  day  of  August,  1743. 
(Signed)  "  VAUDRIEUL. 

"  "  SALMON." 

Concerning  the  above  act  of  confirmation,  Breese 
writes :  "  This  confirmation  took  from  the  inhabitants  the 
islands  in  the  Mississippi,  and  the  land  on  the  east  side  of 
the  Kaskaskia  River,  which  the  benevolent  Boisbriant  had 
verbally  granted  to  them  ;  nevertheless,  they  were  content, 
as  it  secured  to  them  nearly  seven  thousand  acres  of  rich 
pasture  and  woodland,  for  house-bote,  plough-bote,  fire-bote, 
and  estovers,  and  yielding,  also,  in  great  profusion,  grapes, 
plums,  persimmons,  the  lucious  papaw,  the  delicate  pecan, 
and  other  rich  and  delicious  nuts;  whilst  the  'common 
field,'  by  this  arrangement,  did  not  embrace  less  than  eight 
thousand  acres  of  the  richest,  deepest,  blackest  loam,  cap- 
able of  itself  of  sustaining  a  numerous  people.* 

Kaskaskia  continued  from  the  first  to  be  the  most  con- 
siderable of  the  Illinois  villages,  and  carried  on  a  profitable 
trade  by  the  river  with  Natchez  and  New  Orleans.  From 
Kaskaskia,  as  a  parent  hive,  small  swarms  of  colonists  were 
sent  out,  at  intervals,  to  people  the  neighboring  localities. 

As  early  as  the  year  1735,  according  to  tradition,  a  few 
French  Canadian  families  had  fixed  their  abode  on  the  west- 
ern bank  of  the  Mississippi,!  attracted  thither,  no  doubt, 


*  Breese's  Early  Illinois,  p.  187. 

t  The  first  military  settlement  of  the  French,  in  what  is  now  the 
20 


306  Events  in  the  Illinois  Dependency. 

by  the  salt  springs  and  lead  mines,  which  had  been  opened 
in  that  vicinity.  This  hamlet  was  located  on  the  low  river 
bottom,  and  took  the  name  of  Misere,  signifying  poverty 
or  misery,  but  only  in  a  comparative  sense,  when  contrasted 
with  the  older  and  more  flourishing  establishments  on  this 
side  of  the  river.  After  the  great  flood  in  the  Mississippi, 
in  1785,  which  completely  inundated  their  village,  the  in- 
habitants removed  to  the  present  site,  on  a  bluff,  three  miles 
north  or  north-west  of  the  old  one.  The  new  village  re- 
ceived the  name  of  Ste.  Genevieve,  by  which  it  has  evor 
since  been  known.*  It  is  still  a  place  of  considerable  im- 
portance, with  a  noticeable  admixture  of  the  original  Gallic 
element  in  its  population.  The  town  has  long  been  the 
seat  of  justice  of  Ste.  Genevieve  county,  Mo.,  and  by  the 
last  United  States  census,  contained  fifteen  hundred  and 
eighty-six  inhabitants. 

The  population  of  the  French  and  Indian  villages  in 
the  district  of  the  Illinois,  at  the  period  of  which  we  write, 
is  largely  a  matter  of  conjecture  and  computation.  Father 
Louis  Vivier,  a  Jesuit  missionary,  in  a  letter  dated  June  8, 
1750,  and  written  from  the  vicinity  of  Fort  Chartres,  says: 

"We  have  here  whites,  negroes,  and  Indians,  to  say 
nothing  of  the  cross-breeds.  There  are  five  French  vil- 
lages, and  three  villages  of  the  natives  within  a  space  of 
twenty-five  leagues,  situate  between  the  Mississippi  and 
another  river  called  (Kaskaskia).  In  the  French  villages 
are,  perhaps,  eleven  hundred  whites,  three  hundred  blacks, 
and  sixty  red  slaves  or  savages.  The  three  Illinois,  towns 
do  not  contain  more  than  eight  hundred  souls,  all  told."  f 

This  estimate  does  not  include  the  scattered  French 
settlers  or  traders  north  of  Peoria,  nor  on  the  Wabash.  It 
is  stated  that  the  Illinois  nation,  then  dwelling  for  the  most 
part  along  the  river  of  that  name,  occupied  eleven  different 
villages,  with  four  or  five  fires  at  each  village,  and  each  fire 
warming  a  dozen  families,  except  at  the  principal  village, 
where  there  were  three  hundred  lodges.  These  data  would 

State  of  Missouri,  appears  to  have  been  at  Fort  Orleans,  on  the  site  of 
Jefferson  City,  in  1719. 

*  Switzler's  History  of  Missouri,  p.  148. 

t  Lettrea  Edifiantes  et  curieuses,  Paris,  1 781 . 


Form  of  the  Provincial  G-overnment.  307 

give  us  something  near  eight  thousand  as  the  total  number 
of  the  Illinois  of  all  tribes. 

It  may  be  as  well  to  observe  here  that  the  form  of  gov- 
ernment, if  not  the  character  of  the  civilization,  instituted 
by  the  French  in  Canada  and  Louisiana,  was  materially  dif- 
ferent from  that  contemporaneously  established  by  the 
English  on  the  Atlantic  seaboard.  The  government  of 
France  was  bureaucratic,  and  more  on  the  feudal  type ;  a 
government  in  which  all  power  was  concentrated  in  the 
officers  who  administered  it,  while  the  paysans,  or  common 
people,  had  nothing  to  do  but  to  obey  the  edicts  and  orders 
of  their  rulers.  It  was  a  system  more  conducive  to  the 
general  equality  and  contentment  of  the  people,  than  to 
their  individual  freedom  and  progress. 

In  the  Province  of  Louisiana  the  governor  and  com- 
mandant-general, the  intendant  commissary,  and  the  royal 
council  exercised  supreme  authority  in  both  civil  and  mili- 
tary aifairs,  and  were  accountable  only  to  the  king  from 
whom  they  received  their  appointment.  The  governor  was 
invested  with  a  great  deal  of  power,  which,  however,  was 
checked  on  the  side  of  the  crown  by  the  intendant,  who 
had  the  care  of  the  king's  rights  and  whatever  pertained  to 
the  revenue,  and  on  the  side  of  the  people  it  was  restrained 
by  the  royal  council,  whose  duty  it  was  to  see  that  the 
colonists  were  not  oppressed  by  the  one  nor  defrauded  by 
the  other.  The  council  was  styled  Le  Conseil  Superieur  de 
la  Louisiane.  It  was  composed  of  the  intendant,  who  sat 
as  first  judge,  the  procureur-general  or  king's  attorney, 
six  of  the  principal  inhabitants,  and  the  registrar  of  the 
province;  and  they  judged  in  all  civil  and  criminal  matters. 
Every  citizen  had  the  right  to  appear  before  this  body  and 
plead  his  own  cause,  either  verbally  or  by  written  petition, 
and  the  evidences  of  each  party  were  submitted  to  and  ex- 
amined by  the  council. 

The  commandants  in  the  various  districts  of  the  prov- 
ince were  appointed  by  the  governor,  for  no  fixed  period, 
and  exercised  all  such  executive  duties  as  the  exigencies  of 
their  respective  districts  required,  though  not  without  per- 
sonal accountability  to  the  power  appointing  them.  The 


308  Events  in  the  Illinois  Dependency. 

major-commandant,  as  he  was  styled,  was  usually  connected 
with  the  governor  by  interest  or  relationship.  "  He  was 
absolute  in  his  authority,"  writes  Captain  Pittman,  "except 
in  matters  of  life  and  death  ;  capital  offenses  were  tried  by 
the  council  at  New  Orleans.  The  whole  Indian  trade  was 
BO  much  in  the  power  of  the  commandant,  that  nobody  was 
permitted  to  be  concerned  in  it  but  on  condition  of  giving 
him  a  part  of  the  profits.  Whenever  he  made  presents  to 
the  Indians  in  the  name  of  the  king,  he  received  peltry  and 
furs  in  return ;  (and)  as  the  presents  he  gave  were  to  be 
considered  as  marks  of  his  favor  and  love  for  them,  so  the 
returns  they  made  were  to  be  regarded  as  proofs  of  their 
attachment  to  him.  Speeches,  accompanied  by  presents, 
were  called  paroles  de  valeur;  any  Indians  who  came  to  the 
French  post  were  subsisted  at  the  expense  of  the  king 
during  their  stay,  and  the  swelling  of  this  account  was  no 
inconsiderable  emolument. 

"As  every  business  the  commandant  had  with  the  In- 
dians was  attended  with  certain  profit,  it  is  not  surprising 
that  he  spared  no  pains  to  gain  their  affections ;  he  made  it 
equally  the  interest  of  the  officers  under  him  to  please  them, 
by  permitting  them  to  trade,  and  making  themselves  agents 
in  the  Indian  countries.  If  any  person  (or  persons)  brought 
goods  within  the  limits  of  his  jurisdiction,  without  his 
particular  license,  he  would  oblige  them  to  sell  their  mer- 
chandise at  a  very  moderate  profit  to  the  commissary,  on 
the  king's  account,  calling  it  an  emergency  of  government, 
and  employ  the  same  goods  in  his  own  private  commerce. 
It  may  be  easily  supposed,  from  what  has  before  been  said, 
that  a  complaint  to  the  governor  at  New  Orleans  would 
meet  with  very  little  redress.  It  may  be  asked  if  the  in- 
habitants were  not  offended  at  this  monopoly  of  trade  and 
arbitrary  proceedings.  The  commandant  could  bestow 
many  favors  on  them,  such  as  giving  contracts  for  furnish- 
ing provisions,  or  performing  public  works ;  by  employing 
them  in  his  trade,  or  by  making  their  children  cadets,  who 
were  allowed  pay  and  provisions,  and  he  could,  when  they 
were  grown  up,  recommend  them  for  commissions.  They 
were  happy  if,  by  the  most  servile  and  submissive  behavior, 


The  Court  of  Eoyal  Jurisdiction.  309 

they  could  gain  his  confidence  and  favor.  Every  person 
capable  of  bearing  arms  was  enrolled  in  the  militia,  and  a 
captain  of  the  militia  regulated  the  corvees  and  other  per- 
sonal service. 

"  From  this  military  form  of  government,  the  authority 
of  the  commandant  was  almost  universal.  The  commis- 
sary (district)  was  a  mere  cipher,  and  rather  kept  for  form 
than  any  real  use ;  he  was  always  a  person  of  low  de- 
pendence, and  never  dared  to  counteract  the  will  of  the 
commandant,"  * 

Subordinate  to  the  major-commandant  of  the  district, 
each  village  had  its  own  local  commandant,  who  was  usually 
a  captain  of  the  militia.  "  He  was  as  great  a  personage," 
says  Breese,  "as  our  city  mayors,  superintending  the  police 
of  the  village,  and  acting  as  a  kind  of  justice  of  the  peace, 
from  whose  decisions  an  appeal  lay  to  the  major-command- 
ant. In  the  choice  of  this  subordinate  though  important 
functionary,  the  adult  inhabitants  had  a  voice,  and  it  is  the 
only  instance  wherein  they  exercised  an  elective  franchise." 

About  the  year  1751,  for  the  furtherance  of  justice,  the 
so-called  "  Court  or  Audience1  of  the  Royal  Jurisdiction  of 
the  Illinois"  was  instituted  at  Kaskaskia,  The  proceedings 
of  this  court  were  carried  on  before  a  single  judge,  without 
the  assistance  of  a  clerk,  sheriff,  or  lawyers,  the  judge  him- 
self entering  his  decisions  in  a  book  called  "  The  Register." 
Following  is  one  of  the  decrees  extracted  from  it,  being  the 
opinion  of  the  court  by  Justice  Bucket : 

"  Between  Louis  Chancellier,  plaintiff,  by  petition  on 
the  18th  of  this  present  month — stating  that  having  aban- 
doned the  prosecution  of  the  suit  which  he  had  formerly 
brought  against  the  defendant  hereinafter  named  (on  the 
subject  of  his  negro  woman,  to  whom  a  fright  caused  by 
the  son  of  the  defendant  has  produced  dangerous  conse- 
quences, since  the  said  negro  is  afflicted  with  a  falling  sick- 
ness in  consequence  of  this  fright) — on  the  one  part,  and 
Pierre  Fillet,  called  De  la  Londe,  defendant,  who  plead  that 

*Pittman's  "State  of  the  European  Settlements  on  the  Mississippi" 
(London,  1770),  pp.  53,  54. 


310  E cents  in  the  Illinois  Dependency. 

he  would  not  answer  for  the  deeds  of  his  son,  but  would 
say  in  defense  of  his  son  that  this  negro  woman  fell  sick 
of  this  sickness  before  the  fright,  arid,  therefore,  the  plaintiff 
could  not  claim  any  damages  on  account  of  the  fright  which 
his  son  gave  her,  since  the  cause  of  her  sickness  is  anterior 
to  that  which  he  pretends  to  rely  upon. 

"  The  parties  having  been  heard,  we  condemn  the  de- 
fendant to  make  proof  within  eight  days  of  what  he  ad- 
vances, in  order  that  it  may  be  made  to  appear  to  whom 
the  right  belongs. 

"  Done  at  Kaskaskia.  Court  held  20th  May,  1752.— 
Bucket." 

Here  is  another  case  of  a  later  date,  arising  ex  contractu, 
against  an  administrator : 

"Between  Raimond  Brosse,  called  Saint  Cernay,  in- 
habitant of  Kaskaskia,  plaintiff,  to  the  effect  that  the  de- 
fendant, Charles  Lorain,  be  made  to  acknowledge  a  note 
for  sixty  francs,  executed  by  the  deceased  Louis  Langlois, 
and  of  Louise  Girardy,  his  widow,  and  now  wife  of  Charles 
Lorain,  the  aforesaid  defendant,  on  the  other  part. 

"  The  said  note  being  examined,  the  parties  heard,  and 
all  things  considered,  we  condemn  the  defendant  to  pay, 
without  delay,  to  the  plaintiff  the  sum  of  sixty  francs 
(livres),  the  amount  of  the  said  note,  and  also  the  costs  of 
suit,  which  we  have  taxed  at  twenty-eight  francs  and  ten 
cents  (sols). 

"  Done  at  New  Chartre,  in  our  hearing,  we  holding 
court,  Saturday  the  fifth  of  June,  1756. — Chevallier."  * 

The  practice,  or  mode  of  procedure,  in  this  and  other 
courts  of  the  province  was  after  the  forms  of  the  civil  law, 
very  simple  and  brief,  and  probably  as  well  calculated  to 
promote  the  true  ends  of  justice  as  the  more  cumbrous 
forms  of  the  English  common  law,  filled  with  technical 
jargon.  Trial  by  jury  was  unknown  here ;  the  law  and  the 
facts  in  every  case  being  decided  by  the  presiding  judge. 

*Breese's  Early  History,  pp.  217-219.  At  the  time  Judge  Breese 
wrote,  the  record  of  the  proceedings  of  this  high-sounding  court  was 
yet  extant,  and  it  may  be  still. 


Mode  of  Administering  the  Government.  311 

Judgments  and  decrees  were  executed  by  the  captain  of 
militia,  or  the  provost  marshal,  and  no  "stay  laws"  or 
"  valuation  laws  "  impeded  its  operation,  nor  was  there  any 
"  redemption  after  sale."  Occasion,  however,  did  not  very 
often  arise  for  the  exercise  of  the  judicial  authority,  as  liti- 
gation was  expensive,  and  the  people  in  general  were  peace- 
ahle,  honest,  and  punctual  in  their  dealings  with  each  other. 
In  fact,  the  most  common  mode  of  settling  small  difficulties 
and  disputes  about  money,  etc.,  was  by  referring  them  to 
the  arbitration  of  friends  and  neighbors,  or  else  by  the  mild 
interposition  of  the  village  priest.* 

Thus  were  exercised  the  executive  and  judicial  powers 
in  the  provincial  district  of  Illinois ;  of  legislative  powers 
there  were  none.  The  laws  in  force  were  the  edicts  and 
ordinances  of  the  King,  and  the  "  usages  of  the  mayoralty 
and  shrievalty  of  Paris."  These  were  introduced  by  France 
into  all  her  American  colonies,  but  they  were  changed  or 
modified,  more  or  less,  by  the  ignorance  or  caprice  of  those 
whose  business  it  was  to  construe  and  apply  them.  The 
peculiar  local  customs  of  the  colony,  also,  had  the  force 
of  law.* 

The  pernicious  system  of  monopolies  still  prevailed  in 
the  province.  In  August,  1744,  Gov.  de  Vaudreuil  con- 
ceded to  a  Frenchman  named  Deruisseau  the  exclusive 
right  of  trading  in  all  the  country  watered  by  the  Missis- 
sippi River,  and  the  streams  falling  into  it.  This  privilege, 
which  seems  to  have  embraced  the  entire  district  of  the 
Illinois,  was  for  a  term  something  in  excess  of  five  years, 
beginning  January  1,  1745,  and  terminating  on  the  20th  of 
May,  1750.  Several  conditions  were  annexed  to  the  grant, 
such  as  the  maintenance  of  the  posts  on  the  Missouri,  and  the 
regulation  of  the  prices  at  which  goods  were  to  be  supplied 
to  the  settlements.  One  of  the  reasons  assigned  by  De 
Vaudreuil  for  granting  this  monopoly  to  Deruisseau  was 
to  deprive  the  colonists  in  the  Illinois  district  of  all  means 
of  carrying  on  any  commerce  with  the  Indians,  and  thus 


*Breese's  Early  Illinois,  pp.  221,  222. 


312  Events  in  the  Illinois  Dependency. 

force  them  into  the  cultivation  of  the  soil,  and  the  raising 
of  produce  for  the  southern  market.* 

In  1749,  the  Sieur  de  St.  Glair  was  re-appointed  major- 
commandant  at  the  Illinois,  but,  in  the  autumn  of  1751,  he 
was  supplanted  by  the  Chevalier  Macarty,  or  Makarty,  an 
Irishman  by  birth,  and  a  major  of  engineers.  Macarty 
served  about  nine  years,  and  then  yielded  the  position  to 
Capt.  Neyonf  de  Villiers. 

Early  in  1753,  after  a  popular  and  successful  adminis- 
tration of  over  ten  years,  the  Marquis  de  Vaudreuil-Cavagnal 
relinquished  the  governorship  of  Louisiana  to  accept  the 
higher  honor  of  governor-general  of  Canada.  His  suc- 
cessor in  the  former  office  was  M.  de  Kerlerec,  a  captain  in 
the  royal  navy.  He  arrived  in  New  Orleans  the  3d  of 
February,  1753,  and  on  the  9th  of  that  month,  was  installed 
as  chief  executive  of  the  province. 

Let  us  now  take  a  cursory  view  of  contemporaneous 
military  events,  occurring  beyond  the  confines  of  Louisiana. 
In  1744,  war  was  again  declared  between  France  and  Great 
Britain,  and  their  trans- Atlantic  colonies  speedily  became 
embroiled  in  the  armed  conflict,  which  is  known  as  the 
Third  French  War.  The  active  military  operations,  so  far 
as  they  affected  the  French-American  possessions,  were 
chiefly  confined  to  the  eastern  seaboard.  But  to  guard 
against  surprise,  or  any  sudden  irruption  of  the  Chickasaws 
and  other  unfriendly  tribes,  some  fresh  levies  of  troops 
were  made  in  Louisiana,  and  the  garrisons  were  strength- 
ened at  the  principal  posts  in  the  province. 

The  most  noteworthy  episode  of  this  foreign  war  was 
the  capture  of  the  fortress  of  Louisburg,  situated  upon 
Cape  Breton  Island,  by  an  army  of  four  thousand  men 
from  Boston,  under  the  command  of  Colonel  (afterward 
Sir)  William  Pepperell,  in  June,  1745.  The  reduction 
of  this  stronghold,  which  had  hitherto  been  considered  im- 
pregnable, was  a  heavy  blow  to  the  French  power,  and 
during  the  succeeding  year  a  powerful  fleet  was  fitted  out 

*  GayarrS's  Hist,  of  La.,  Vol.  II,  pp.  23,  24. 
t  Written  Noyon  in  old  French  documents. 


Peace  of  17 '48— Rebuilding  of  Fort  Chartres.         313 

in  France  to  recover  it  and  chastise  its  captors.  The  fleet, 
however,  was  delayed,  and  its  aim  was  frustrated  by  a 
storm.  But  by  a  provision  of  the  treaty  of  Aix-la-Chapelle 
(1748),  Louisburg  was  restored  to  the  possession  of  France 
in  exchange  for  certain  territory  that  England  desired  in 
India, — an  arrangement  very  displeasing  to  the  New  Eng- 
landers. 

The  peace  of  1748,  which  conferred  increased  pros- 
perity on  the  Province  of  Louisiana,  was  not  destined  to 
be  of  long  duration.  Of  the  various  causes  at  work  to 
bring  about  a  renewal  of  hostilities  between  the  two  rival 
powers,  it  is  unnecessary  now  to  speak,  as  we  shall  here- 
after take  occasion  to  pass  them  in  review.  But  the  fear 
that  the  English  might  eventually  gain  a  foot-hold  in  this 
great  Valley  of  the  Mississippi  was  ever  present  to  the 
minds  of  the  intelligent  French  inhabitants.  And  the 
suggestion  was  made  by  De  Bertel,  commandant  at  the 
Illinois,  to  the  governor  in  New  Orleans,  and  through  him 
to  the  king,  that  additional  means  of  defense  were  required 
for  the  protection  of  these  valuable  possessions,  hinting  at 
more  troops  and  larger  and  stronger  forts. 

Nothing  appears  to  have  been  done  at  the  time,  how- 
ever, excepting  to  enroll  those  able  to  bear  arms  into  com- 
panies of  militia,  and  to  provide  for  the  maintenance  of 
garrisons  at  the  more  exposed  places. 

It  was  not  until  the  year  1753,  when  Macarty  was 
major-commandant,  that  the  rebuilding  of  Fort  Chartres 
was  begun,  in  accordance  with  plans  and  specifications 
furnished  by  M.  Saucier,  a  French  engineer.*  This  huge 
structure  of  masonry,  an  object  of  wonder  and  curiosity 
to  all  who  ever  beheld  it,  was  reared  at  an  estimated  cost 
of  over  five  millions  of  livres,  or  about  one  million  dollars. 
It  was  so  nearly  completed  by  the  beginning  of  1756,  that 

*  See  Letters  of  Travel  through  Louisiana,  by  M.  Bossu,  captain  in  the 
French  Marines,  and  afterward  Chevalier  of  the  Order  of  St.  Louis.  Im- 
printed at  Paris,  1768;  English  ed.,  London,  1771,  p.  127.  Of  the  fort 
itself,  Bossu  says  (p.  158) :  "  It  is  built  of  freestone,  flanked  with  four 
bastions,  and  capable  of  containing  (or  housing)  a  garrison  of  three 
hundred  men." 


314  Events  in  the  Illinois  Dependency. 

it  was  occupied  by  the  Illinois  commandant,  and  the  archives 
pf  the  local  government  were  deposited  therein.  Thence- 
forth, the  fortress  was  popularly  known  as  "  New  Chartres." 

"As  a  means  of  defense,"  writes  Breese,  "  except  as  a 
citadel  to  iiee  to  on  any  sudden  attack  of  the  savages,  the 
erection  was  wholly  unnecessary.  Official  emolument  must 
have  prompted  it,  and  some  of  the  many  millions  of  livres 
it  is  said  to  have  cost  must  have  gone  into  the  command- 
ant's pocket,  or  into  those  of  his  favorites,  and  they  enriched 
by  this  mode  of  peculation.'* 

This  extensive  fortification  was  constructed  during 
Kerlerec's  administration  of  the  government  of  Louisiana, 
and  he  probably  shared  in  the  profits  of  the  erection.  Ma- 
karty  was  then  major-commandant  of  the  Illinois,  and  the 
Abbe  de  Gagnon,  of  the  order  of  St.  Sulpice,  was  chaplain 
at  the  fort. 

M.  de  Kerlerec  held  the  office  of  provincial  executive 
from  February  9,  1753,  until  June  29,  1763,  when  he  was 
superseded  by  Mons.  d'Abbadie  * — not  as  governor,  but  as 
director-general,  etc. — and  was  ordered  to  return  to  France. 
He  was  accused  of  various  violations  of  duty  and  assump- 
tions of  power,  and,  in  particular,  was  reproached  with 
having  spent  ten  millions  of  livres  in  four  years,  while  M. 
Eochemaure  was  intendant-commissary,  under  the  pretext 
of  preparing  for  war.  Upon  his  arrival  in  Paris,  he  was 
incarcerated  for  some  time  in  the  Bastile,  and  is  said  to 
have  died  of  vexation  and  grief  shortly  after  his  discharge 
from  that  gloomy  state  prison. f 

In  Captain  Pittman's  "  Present  State  of  the  European 
Settlements  on  the  Mississippi,"  already  cited,  is  contained 
an  excellent  description  of  Fort  Chartres,  as  seen  by  him 
in  1766,  while  it  was  yet  in  its  prime.  He  writes : 

"  Fort  Chartres,  when  it  belonged  to  France,  was  the 
seat  of  government  of  the  Illinois.  The  head-quarters  of 
the  English  commanding  officer  is  now  here ;  who,  in  fact, 
is  the  arbitrary  governor  of  the  country.  The  fort  is  an  ir- 
regular quadrangle ;  the  sides  of  the  exterior  polygon  are 

*  Otherwise  written  Abadie. 

t  Gayarre's  Hist,  of  La.,  II.,  p.  95 ;  and  Martin's  Louisiana,  I.,  p.  343. 


Pittman's  Description  of  Fort  Chartres.  315 

four  hundred  and  ninety  feet.  It  is  built  of  stone  plastered, 
and  is  only  designed  as  a  defense  against  Indians ;  the  wall 
being  two  feet  two  inches  thick,  and  pierced  with  loop- 
holes at  regular  distances,  and  with  two  port-holes  for  can- 
non in  the  faces  and  two  in  the  flanks  of  each  bastion. 
The  ditch  has  never  been  finished.  The  (main)  entrance  to 
the  fort  is  through  a  very  handsome  rustic  gate ;  within 
the  walls  is  a  small  banquette,  raised  three  feet,  for  the  men 
to  stand  on  when  they  fire  through  the  loop-holes. 

"  The  buildings  within  the  fort  are  the  commandant's 
and  commissary's  houses,  the  magazine  of  stores,  corps  de 
garde,  and  two  barracks ;  they  occupy  the  square.  Within 
the  gorges  of  the  bastions  are  a  powder  magazine,  a  bake- 
house, a  prison,  on  the  lower  floor  of  which  are  four  dun- 
geons, and  in  the  upper  two  rooms,  and  an  outhouse  be- 
longing to  the  commandant. 

"  The  commandant's  house  is  thirty-two  yards  long 
and  ten  broad.  It  contains  a  kitchen,  a  dining-room,  a 
bed-chamber,  one  small  room,  five  closets  for  servants,  and 
a  cellar.  The  commissary's  house,  now  occupied  by  officers, 
is  built  in  the  same  line  as  this  ;  its  proportions  and  distri- 
bution of  apartments  are  the  same. 

"  Opposite  these  are  the  store-house  and  guard-house. 
They  are  each  thirty  yards  long  and  eight  broad.  The 
former  consists  of  two  large  store-rooms  (under  which  is  a 
large  vaulted  cellar),  and  a  large  room,  a  bed-chamber,  and 
a  closet  for  the  store-keeper ;  the  latter  of  a  soldier's  and 
officer's  guard-rooms,  a  chapel,  a  bed-chamber  and  closet 
for  the  chaplain,  and  an  artillery  store-room. 

"  The  lines  of  barracks  have  never  been  finished. 
They  at  present  consist  of  two  rooms  each  for  officers,  and 
three  rooms  for  soldiers.  They  are  good,  spacious  rooms 
of  twenty-two  feet  square,  and  have  betwixt  them  a  small 
passage.  There  are  five  spacious  lofts  over  each  building, 
which  reach  from  end  to  end.  They  are  made  use  of  to 
lodge  regimental  stores,  working  and  intrenching  tools,  etc. 

"  It  is  generally  allowed  that  this  is  the  most  commo- 
dious and  best  built  fort  in  North  America. 

"  The  bank  of  the  Mississippi  next  the  fort  is  con- 


316  Events  in  the  Illinois  Dependency. 

tinually  falling  in,  being  worn  away  by  the  current,  which 
has  been  turned  from  its  course  by  a  sand-bank,  now  in- 
creased to  a  considerable  island,  covered  with  willows. 
Many  experiments  have  been  tried  to  stop  this  growing 
evil,  but  to  no  purpose.  When  the  fort  was  begun  in  1756, 
it  was  a  good  half-mile  from  the  water  side.  In  the  year 
1766  it  was  but  eighty  paces.  Eight  years  ago  the  river 
was  fordable  to  the  island ;  the  channel  is  now  forty  feet 
deep." 

The  story  of  the  subsequent  dilapidation  and  ruin  of 
this  historic  fortress,  which  was  intended  to  secure  the  em- 
pire of  the  French  in  the  West,  may  be  told  in  a  few  sen- 
tences. In  the  spring  of  1772,  a  great  freshet  in  the  Mis- 
sissippi, which  submerged  all  the  adjacent  bottom,  made 
such  inroads  upon  the  crumbling  river  bank,  that  the  west- 
ern wall .  and  one  of  the  bastions  of  the  fort  were  under- 
mined and  precipitated  into  the  raging  current.  The  Brit- 
ish garrison  then  abandoned  it,  and  took  refuge  at  Fort 
Gage,  on  the  high  bluff  of  the  Kaskaskia,  opposite  to  and 
overlooking  the  old  town  of  that  name.  Thither  the  seat 
of  government  was  transferred,  and  Fort  Chartres  was 
never  again  occupied.  It  was  left  to  become  a  ruin,  and 
such  of  its  walls  and  buildings  as  escaped  destruction  by 
succeeding  inundations  were  torn  down  and  removed  by 
the  neighboring  villagers  for  building  purposes. 

After  the  flood  of  1772,  uthe  capricious  Mississippi 
devoted  itself  to  the  reparation  of  the  damage  it  had 
wrought.  The  channel  between  the  fort  and  the  island 
in  front  of  it,  once  forty  feet  deep,  began  to  fill  up,  and 
ultimately  the  main  shore  and  the  island  were  united, 
leaving  the  fort  a  mile  or  more  inland.  A  thick  growth  of 
trees  speedily  concealed  it  from  the  view  of  those  passing 
on  the  river,  and  the  high  road  from  Kaskaskia  to  Cahokia, 
which  at  first  ran  between  the  fort  and  the  river,  was  soon 
after  located  at  the  bluffs,  three  miles  to  the  eastward. 
These  changes,  which  left  the  fort  completely  isolated  and 
hidden,  together  with  the  accounts  of  the  British  evacua- 
tion, gave  rise  to  the  report  of  its  total  destruction  by  the 
river.  .  .  .  But  this  is  entirely  erroneous;  the  ruins 


The  Ruin  of  Fort  Chartres.  317 

(or  part  of  them)  still  remain;  and  had  man  treated  it  as 
kindly  as  the  elements,  the  old  fort  would  be  nearly  perfect 
to-day."  * 

Now  and  then  a  curious  tourist  or  an  antiquary  made 
his  way  thither.  In  1804,  the  fort  was  visited  by  Major 
Amos  Stoddard,f  of  the  U.  S.  Engineers,  who  described  it 
as  in  a  good  state  of  preservation.  In  1820,  Dr.  Lewis  C. 
Beck,  and  Nicholas  Hansen,  of  Illinois,  made  a  careful 
drawing  of  the  plan  of  the  fortress,  for  insertion  in  Beck's 
"  Gazetteer  of  Illinois  and  Missouri."  At  that  time  many 
of  the  rooms  and  cellars  in  the  buildings,  and  portions  of 
the  outside  walls,  showing  the  opening  for  the  main  gate, 
and  loop-holes  for  the  musketry,  were  still  in  a^state  of  tol- 
erable repair.  According  to  their  measurements,  the  whole 
exterior  line  of  the  walls  and  bastions  was  1,447  feet.  The 
aYea  of  the  fort  embraced  about  four  acres ;  and  the  walls, 
built  of  solid  stone,  were  in  some  places  fifteen  feet  high. 
In  1851,  ex-Governor  Reynolds  visited  the  remains  of  the 
old  fortress,  concerning  which  he  thus  writes : 

"  This  fort  (situated  in  the  north-west  corner  of  Ran- 
dolph county)  is  an  object  of  antiquarian  curiosity.  The 
trees,  undergrowth,  and  brush  are  so  mixed  and  interwoven 
with  the  old  walls  that  the  place  has  a  much  more  ancient 
appearance  than  the  dates  will  justify.  The  soil  is  so  fer- 
tile that  it  has  forced  up  large  trees  in  the  very  houses 
which  were  occupied  by  the  French  and  British  soldiers."  | 

The  same  writer  was  there  again  in  October,  1854,  and 
found  what  was  left  of  the  fort  "a  pile  of  moldering 
ruins,"  the  walls  having  been  torn  away  in  many  places 
nearly  even  with  the  ground.  Moralizing  upon  the  scene 
of  desolation  thus  presented  to  his  gaze,  he  quaintly  wrote : 
"  There  is  nothing  durable  in  this  world,  except  God  and 
Nature."  Later  tourists  to  this  interesting  spot  have  seen 

*  Paper  read  before  the  Chicago  Historical  Society,  by  Hon.  E.  G. 
Mason,  June  16,  1880. 

t  It  was  Stoddard  who  took  possession  of  Upper  Louisiana  for  the 
Government  of  the  United  States,  in  March,  1804,  under  the  treaty  of 
purchase  from  France. 

J  Reynolds'  Pioneer  History,  2d  ed.,  p.  46. 


•  318  Events  in  the  Illinois  Dependency. 

the  outlines  of  the  external  walls  and  ditches,  and  scattered 
heaps  of  broken  stone ;  also  the  vaulted  powder  magazine, 
a  piece  of  solid  masonry,  existing  almost  entire. 

It  is  much  to  be  regretted  that  this  large  and  commo- 
dious fortress — the  only  great  architectural  work  of  the 
French  in  the  entire  basin  of  the  Mississippi — over  which, 
in  succession,  had  long  and  proudly  floated  the  flags  of  two 
powerful  nations,  should  not  have  been  built  upon  a  firmer 
and  more  elevated  site,  where  it  might  have  been  preserved, 
as  an  impressive  and  historical  monument  of  the  past,  even 
unto  the  present  time. 


Movements  of  the  French  on  the  Upper  Ohio.          319 
CHAPTER   XVII. 

1753-1760. 
THE    MEMORABLE    SEVEN    YEARS'    WAR. 

We  now  approach  that  momentous  contest  popularly 
known  as  the  "  Old  French  and  Indian  War,"  *  or  the  "  Seven 
Years'  War,"  in  which  France  and  Great  Britain  stubbornly 
contended  for  the  final  possession  of  this  continent.  The 
French,  having  begun  their  wonderful  career  of  conquest 
and  colonization  in  the  early  part  of  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury, had  gradually  extended  a  chain  of  military  and  trading 
posts  from  Quebec  up  the  river  St.  Lawrence  to  Lake  On- 
tario, and  thence  westward  along  the  great  connecting  lakes 
to  the  head  of  Lake  Michigan ;  thence  diagonally  through 
the  country  of  the  Illinois  to  the  Mississippi,  and  down 
that  interior  water-way  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  The  En- 
glish, in  the  meantime,  had  been  planting  along  the 
Atlantic  seaboard — a  reach  of  over  two  thousand  miles — 
the  most  prosperous  and  powerful  colonies  in  the  New 
World.  And  it  was  the  extension  of  their  growing  power 
and  settlements  across  the  Appalachian  range  of  mountains, 
which  had  hitherto  constituted  their  western  boundary,  that 
first  brought  them  into  controversy  and  collision  with  the 
French  Canadian  authorities. 

France  claimed  the  entire  Valley  of  the  Mississippi, 
including  that  of  the  Ohio  as  well,  which  her  enterprising 
fur-traders  and  missionaries  had  been  the  first  to  explore 
and  formally  occupy,  but  which  she  had  as  yet  only  very 
sparsely  peopled.  In  furtherance  of  this  claim  of  exclusive 
jurisdiction,  the  alert  French  went  so  far  as  to  carve  their 
national  fleur-de-lis  on  the  forest  trees,  and  to  bury  metallic 
plates,  stamped  with  the  arms  of  France,  at  various  places 


*  It  was  really  the  fourth  French  and  Indian  war. 


320  The  Seven  Years'  War. 

in  the  Ohio  Valley.  On  the  other  hand,  England,  in  virtue 
of  the  primal  discovery  of  the  country  by  the  Cabots, 
maintained  the  right  to  extend  her  possessions  on  the 
Atlantic  coast  indefinitely  westward,  and  in  conformity 
with  this  view  the  charters  of  some  of  her  colonies  were 
so  worded  as  to  reach  across  the  entire  breadth  of  the  con- 
tinent. The  English  sought  to  further  strengthen  their 
title  by  annexing  to  it  the  pretense  of  their  Indian  allies, 
the  Six  Nations,*  who  claimed,  by  right  of  conquest,  all 
that  part  of  the  northwestern  territory  lying  south  of  the 
great  lakes  and  between  the  Alleghany  Mountains  and  the 
Mississippi. 

So  long  as  France  and  Great  Britain  were  at  peace, 
which  was  never  many  years  at  a  time,  this  standing, 
national  controversy  gave  rise  only  to  a  series  of  border 
disputes,  petty  encroachments,  and  intrigues  with  the  fickle 
aborigines,  neither  party  being  numerous  enough  to  colon- 
ize the  territory  which  both  coveted.  But  when  war  ex- 
isted between  the  two  parent  countries,  their  respective 
American  colonies  likewise  engaged  in  murderous  conflict, 
which,  because  of  the  savages  enlisted  in  it,  was  fearfully 
destructive  of  life  and  property. 

By  the  opening  of  the  year  1753  affairs  had  reached  a 
crisis,  and  France,  in  order  to  fix  a  barrier  to  the  westward 
march  of  English  colonization,  and  thus  protect  her  wide 
possessions  in  the  West  and  South,  determined  to  run  a  line 
of  detached  posts  from  Niagara  and  Lake  Erie  to  the  head 
of  the  Ohio,  and  down  that  river.  The  Indians  were  the 
first  to  take  alarm  at  this  movement ;  and  in  April,  when 
the  news  reached  the  Upper  Ohio  that  a  French  force  was 
on  the  way  to  erect  forts  in  that  region,  the  Mingoes,  Dela- 
wares,  and  Shawnees  met  in  council  at  a  village  called 
Logston,  on  the  Ohio,  and  sent  an  envoy  to  Fort  Niagara 
to  protest  against  the  French  occupation,  but  their  protest 
was  unheeded.  In  pursuance  of  a  pre-determined  plan, 


*The  Five  Nations  were  increased  to  six  by  the  addition  of  the 
Tuscaroras  from  North  Carolina,  in  the  first  quarter  of  the  eighteenth 
century. 


Major  Washington's  Mission.  321 

the  French  soldiery,  under  General  Pierre  Paul,  Sieur  de 
Marin,  built  Fort  Presque  Isle  on  the  south-eastern  share  of 
Lake  Erie,  near  the  present  city  of  Erie,  and  Fort  le  Boeuf 
on  the  head  waters  of  French  Creek,  fourteen  miles  south- 
east of  the  former  fort,  and  then  opened  a  wagon  road  be- 
tween the  two.  They  also  converted  into  a  military  station 
the  Indian  village  of  Venango,  situate  at  the  junction  of 
French  Creek  with  the  Alleghany  River ;  but  when  they 
undertook  to  erect  a  fort  at  the  forks  or  head  of  the  Ohio, 
they  came  into  collision  with  representatives  of  the  Ohio 
Company.  This  company,  which  had  been  formed  in  Vir- 
ginia as  early  as  1750,  was  authorized  by  the  Virginia  Coun- 
cil to  select  five  hundred  thousand  acres  of  land  on  both 
sides  of  the  Upper  Ohio  for  the  .purpose  of  settlement,  and 
had  caused  surveys  to  be  made  of  the  lands  and  built  some 
houses  thereon.  The  French  troops,  however,  seized  sev- 
eral of  the  English  agents  and  traders  and  sent  them  pris- 
oners to  Canada,  and  warned  others  away, — an  arbitrary 
and  unfriendly  proceeding.  The  company  thereupon  made 
complaint  to  Robert  Dinwiddie,  governor  of  Virginia,  who 
commissioned  young  George  Washington  (then  adjutant- 
general,  with  the  rank  of  major,  of  the  provincial  militia  in 
the  northern  division  of  the  colony)  to  be  the  bearer  of  a  let- 
ter to  the  commander  of  the  French  forces  on  the  head  waters 
of  the  Ohio,  requiring  him  to  peaceably  withdraw  from  that 
territory,  which  was  claimed  as  a  part  of  Virginia,  and  as 
belonging  to  the  crown  of  Great  Britain. 

Major  Washington  started  on  his  difficult  mission  from 
Williamsburg  (the  old  capital  of  Virginia)  on  the  31st  of 
October,  1753,  first  stopping  at  Fredericksburg  to  engage 
a  French  interpreter,  and  proceeded  via  Alexandria  to  Win- 
chester, where  he  procured  horses  and  baggage,  and  thence 
journeyed  to  Wills  Creek.  Here  he  employed  a  guide  and 
four  men  as  servants,  and,  continuing  his  journey  over  the 
mountains  in  a  north-westerly  direction,  reached  the  junction 
of  Turtle  Creek  and  the  Monongahela  on  the  22d  of  Novem- 
ber, and  the  forks  of  the  Ohio  on  the  23d.  The  next  day 
he  went  down  the  river  to  Logstown,  several  miles  below  the 
21 


322  The  Seven  Years'  War. 

forks,  and  there  held  a  conference  with  the  Indians  friendly 
to  the  English  cause.  From  thence,  attended  by  a  small 
native  escort,  he  traveled  up  the  valley  of  the  Alleghany,  and 
its  tributary  of  French  Creek,  to  Fort  le  Boeuf,*  whither 
he  arrived  on  the  llth  of  December.  Presenting  his  cre- 
dentials and  letter  to  Jacques  le  Gardeur  de  St.  Pierre,  who 
had  succeeded  the  Sieur  de  Marin  (then  recently  deceased)  in 
command  of  the  French  troops  in  that  quarter,  Washington 
was  politely  received  and  entertained  by  the  commander 
and  his  staff.  Some  days  later,  on  taking  his  departure 
from  the  fort,  he  was  handed  a  letter  by  St.  Pierre  in  an- 
swer to  that  of  the  Virginia  governor. 

Major  "Washington  and  his  party  set  out  on  their  re- 
turn home  the  16th  of  December,  and  after  a  most  disa- 
greeable and  dangerous  winter  journey,  made  partly  on 
horseback  and  partly  afoot,  he  reached  Williamsburg  on 
January  16,  1754.  Calling  without  delay  upon  Governor 
Dinwiddie,  he  delivered  to  him  the  letter  of  reply  from  the 
French  commander,  with  which  he  had  been  intrusted,  and 
of  which  the  following  is  a  translation  : 

"  SIR  :  As  I  have  the  honor  of  commanding  here  in 
chief,  Mr.  Washington  delivered  to  me  the  letter  which  you 
wrote  to  the  commander  of  the  French  troops.  I  should 
have  been  glad  that  you  had  given  him  orders,  or  that  he 
had  been  inclined,  to  proceed  to  Canada  to  see  our  general ; 
to  whom  it  better  belongs  than  to  me  to  set  forth  the  evi- 
dence and  the  reality  of  the  rights  of  the  king,  my  master, 
to  the  land  situate  along  the  river  Ohio,  and  to  contest  the 
pretentions  of  the  King  of  Great  Britain  thereto. 

"  I  shall  transmit  your  letter  to  the  Marquis  du  Quesne. 
His  answer  will  be  a  law  to  me.  And  if  he  shall  order  me 
to  communicate  it  to  you,  sir,  you  may  be  assured  I  will 
not  fail  to  dispatch  it  forthwith  to  you.  As  to  the  sum- 
mons you  send  me  to  retire,  I  do  not  think  myself  obliged 
to  obey  it.  Whatever  may  be  your  instructions,  I  am  here 
by  virtue  of  the  orders  of  general ;  and  I  entreat  you,  sir, 


,    *  Or  Fort  sur  la  Rivitre  au  Boeuf. 


General  St.  Pierre's  Letter  to  Governor  Dinwiddie.     323 

not  to  doubt  one  moment  but  that  I  am  determined  to  con- 
form myself  to  them  with  all  the  exactness  and  resolution 
which  can  be  expected  from  the  best  officer.  I  do  not  know 
that  in  the  progress  of  this  campaign  any  thing  has  passed 
which  can  be  reputed  as  an  act  of  hostility,  or  that  is  con- 
trary to  the  treaties  which  subsist  between  the  two  crowns, 
the  continuation  whereof  interesteth  and  is  as  pleasing  to 
us  as  to  the  English,"  .etc. 

(Signed)  "  LE  GARDEUR  DE  ST.  PIERRE. 

"  Dated  December  15,  1753."  * 

When  this  rather  defiant  letter  had  been  read  and  con- 
sidered by  the  governor  and  council  of  Virginia,  an  order 
was  issued  to  raise  a  regiment  of  mounted  militia,  for  the 
double  purpose  of  driving  the  French  intruders  from  their 
territory,  and  of  completing  and  garrisoning  the  post  at 
the  confluence  of  the  Alleghany  and  Monongahela  Rivers, 
the  erection  of  which  had  been  already  begun  by  the 
agents  of  the  Ohio  Company.  The  command  of  this  regi- 
ment was  assigned  to  Colonel  Fry,  with  Washington  as 
lieutenant-colonel,  and  they  were  speedily  equipped  and  on 
their  way  across  the  mountains.  But  the  object  of  this  expe- 
dition was  thwarted  in  the  main  by  the  prompter  action  of  the 
French  under  Captain  Antoine  Pecody  Contrecoeur,  who, 
in  the  month  of  April,  in  anticipation  of  the  arrival  of  the 
Virginia  troops,  moved  down  to  the  head  of  the  Ohio  with 
a  force  of  about  one  thousand  regulars  and  Indians,  and 
eighteen  pieces  of  cannon.  After  dispersing  the  employes 
of  the  company  and  a  small  body  of  militia,  whom  he  found 
there,  Contrecoeur  proceeded  to  finish  the  fort  which  they 
had  commenced,  and  named  it  Duquesne,  in  compliment  to 
the  commander  of  the  French  forces  in  Canada. 

Lietenant-Colonel  Washington  had  meantime  pushed 
forward,  with  one-half  of  the  Virginia  regiment,  in  advance 
of  the  rest,  to  a  place  called  the  Great  Meadows,  fifty  miles 
north-west  of  Wills  Creek  (afterward  Fort  Cumberland), 


*Vide  "  Diaries  of  Washington,"  edited  by  Benson  J.  Lossing,  N.  Y., 
1360,  p.  247. 


324         The  Seven  Years'  War— Death  of  Jumonville. 

and  there  erected  a  rude  stockade  fort,  which  received  the 
name  of  Fort  Necessity,  While  he  was  thus  engaged,  N. 
Coulon  de  Jumonville,  a  young  French  officer,  was  sent 
from  Fort  Duquesne,  with  a  detachment  of  thirty  men,  to 
reconnoiter  his  movements  and  notify  him  to  surrender  the 
fort.  On  being  apprised  by  his  scouts  of  the  approach  of 
the  French  party,  Washington  planned  to  fall  upon  them 
by  surprise.  Accordingly,  on  the  evening  of  the  27th  of 
May,  with  a  part  of  his  provincials  and  a  few  Indian  allies, 
he  suddenly  surrounded  De  Jumonville's  camp,  at  a  se- 
cluded spot  called  the  Little  Meadows,  and  ordered  his 
men  to  open  fire.  In  the  brief  action  of  a  quarter  of  an 
hour  that  ensued,  the  Virginians  had  one  man  killed  and 
three  wounded ;  while,  on  the  side  of  the  French,  ten  men 
were  either  killed  or  wounded,  and  the  remainder  made 
prisoners.  Among  the  slain  was  M.  de  Jumonville,*  who 
commanded  the  French  party.  The  killing  of  this  brave 
young  officer,  who  bore  on  his  person  a  summons  to  the 
Virginians  to  surrender,  caused  much  excitement  in  Can- 
ada and  France,  where  it  was  claimed  to  be  a  violation  of 
the  law  of  nations,  and  it  contributed  to  kindle  into  a  flame 
the  -embers  of  war. 

So  soon  as  intelligence  of  this  bloody  encounter  was 
brought  to  the  Illinois,  Neyon  de  Villiers,  a  brother  of  the 
deceased  Jumonville,  and  captain  of  a  company  then  sta- 
tioned at  Fort  Chartres,  solicited  leave  of  Makarty,  the 
major-commandant,  to  go  and  avenge  the  death  of  his  rela- 
tive. Permission  being  given,  De  Villiers  set-out  with  a 
considerable  force  of  French  and  Indians.  Passing  down 
the  Mississippi  and  up  the  Ohio  to  Fort  Duquesne,  he  was 
there  joined  by  M.  Coulon  de  Villiers,  with  other  forces, 
bent  upon  the  same  stern  errand.  The  French  on  the  Ohio, 
being  thus  re-inforced,  took  the  offensive. 

Some  little  time  before  this  Colonel  Fry  had  deceased, 
and  Washington  succeeded  to  the  full  command  of  his  regi- 


*  M.  Jumonville  de  Villiers  was  born  in  Picardy,  France,  about  1725. 
He  was  one  of  seven  brothers,  all  soldiers,  six  of  whom,  it  is  said,  were 
killed  during  this  war.  His  death  was  made  the  theme  of  a  short  epic 
poem  by  M.  Thomas,  a  French  poet. 


Washington's  Surrenders  Fort  Necessity.  325 

inent.  Finding  himself  confronted  by  a  superior  force  of 
the  enemy,  he  now  fell  back  to  Fort  Necessity,  at  the  Great 
Meadows,  which  he  strengthened  as  well  as  he  could  in  the 
brief  time  allowed  him.  Here,  on  the  3d  of  July,  he  was 
attacked  by  De  Villiers,  with  an  army  of  some  six  hundred 
Frenchmen  and  over  one  hundred  Indians.  The  Virginia 
troops  made  a  stubborn  defense,  and  withstood  the  irregu- 
lar fire  of  the  French  and  their  allies  (who  sheltered  them- 
selves behind  the  forest  trees),  from  ten  o'clock  in  the  morn- 
ing until  sunset.  At  length,  fearing  the  failure  of  his  am- 
munition, and  not  desiring  to  sacrifice  the  lives  of  his  men 
by  storming  the  fort,  De  Villiers  sent  in  a  flag  of  truce 
offering  moderate  terms  of  capitulation.  In  view  of  his 
critical  situation,  Colonel  Washington,  after  some  parleying 
over  details,  accepted  the  terms  offered.  By  these  he  was 
allowed  to  march  off  his  troops  with  the  honors  of  war,  and 
to  carry  away  his  baggage,  but  was  required  to  leave  his 
cannon,  and  to  surrender  all  of  his  prisoners  previously 
taken.  In  this  frontier  battle  the  French  are  said  to  have 
lost  only  three  men  killed  and  a  few  wounded,  while  the 
Virginians,  penned  up  in  the  stockade  fort,  lost  over  thirty 
men  killed  and  wounded. 

When  the  news  of  these  stirring  events  reached  Eng- 
land and  France,  both  nations  prepared  to  settle  their  ter- 
ritorial disputes  by  the  arbitrament  of  the  sword,  though 
war  was  not  formally  declared  by  the  King  of  Great  Britain 
until  May,  1756.  Among  other  sources  of  irritation  be- 
tween the  two  governments  at  this  time  was  the  alleged 
encroachment  by  French  colonists  upon  the  domain  of  the 
English  in  Acadia,  or  Nova  Scotia,  which  had  been  ceded 
to  England  by  the  treaty  of  Utrecht,  in  1713,  but  the 
boundaries  of  which  remained  unadjusted. 

To  the  mere  superficial  observer  the  impending  con- 
test seemed  a-  very  unequal  one.  The  population  of  the 
Anglo-American  colonies  aggregated  about  one  million 
and  a  quarter,  with  wealth  and  military  resources  in  pro- 
portion ;  whereas,  the  French,  all  told,  did  not  count  more 
than  one  hundred  thousand  souls.  But  the  latter  were 
difficult  to  be  reached,  for  the  reason  that  their  forts  and 


326  The  Seven  Years'  War. 

settlements  were  situated  at  remote  points  in  the  wilder- 
ness, and  surrounded  by  numerous  Indian  allies,  who  could 
be  quickly  summoned  to  their  aid ;  and  from  these  forest 
retreats  they  menaced  the  entire  western  English  frontier. 
Moreover,  the  regular  British  army  of  that  day  was  an  un- 
wieldy machine,  incumbered  with  heavy  baggage  and  mu- 
nitions, commanded  by  brave  yet  conceited  officers,  who 
were  inexperienced  in  the  wild  tactics  of  Indian  warfare, 
and  in  constant  danger  of  being  surprised  and  defeated 
by  a  lighter  equipped,  more  agile  and  vigilant  foe. 

In  February,  1755,  General  Edward  Braddock,  who 
had  been  given  the  chief  command  in  the  English  colonies, 
arrived  at  Alexandria,  Virginia,  with  two  regiments  of 
regular  troops.  During  the  following  April  he  met  there 
the  governors  of  five  of  the  leading  provinces,  and  con- 
certed with  them  a  general  plan  of  campaign.  Three  sep- 
arate expeditions  were  planned;  one  against  Fort  Duquesne, 
to  be  commanded  by  Braddock  in  person;  the  second, 
against  Forts  Niagara  and  Frontenac,  to  be  led  by  Gov- 
ernor William  Shirley,  of  Massachusetts ;  and  the  third, 
against  Crown  Point,  by  General  (afterward  Sir  William) 
Johnson. 

Early  in  May,  General  Braddock  set  out  with  his  army 
from  Alexandria  upon  his  luckless  expedition.  Arrived  at 
Fort  Cumberland,  on  the  Upper  Potomac,  he  was  there 
joined  by  several  hundred  Virginia  militia,  under  the  lead 
of  Colonel  Washington,  whom  he  had  invited  to  serve  as 
one  of  his  aides  de  camp.  Being  thus  reinforced,  and  hav- 
ing now  completed  the  equipment  of  his  army,  the  gen- 
eral resumed  his  march  on  the  10th  of  June.  But  the 
difficulty  and  delay  attending  the  opening  of  a  military 
road  across  the  mountains  induced  him,  partly  at  the  sug- 
gestion of  Washington,  to  leave  his  wagon  train  and  heavy 
cannon  behind  with  a  guard  of  eight  hundred  men,  under 
Colonel  Thomas  Dunbar,  and  to  press  forward  with  the 
main  body  of  his  army,  over  twelve  hundred  strong,  in 
order  to  reach  the  French  fort  before  its  garrison  could 
"be  reinforced.  After  reaching  and  fording  the  Monongahela 


Braddock's  Disastrous  Defeat.  327 

River,  Braddock  marched  rapidly  to  the  north  down  the 
valley  of  that  stream. 

Meanwhile,  Daniel  Lienard  de  Beaujeu,  who  had  prac- 
tically, if  not  formally,  supplanted  Captain  Contrecoeur  in 
the  command  at  Fort  Duquesne,  being  advised  by  his  scouts 
of  Braddock's  approach,  marched  out  with  a  force  of  two 
hundred  and  fifty  Frenchmen,  and  six  hundred  and  fifty 
Indians,  to  intercept  his  advance.  Proceeding  up  the 
Monongahela  seven  miles  from  the  fort,  the  French  and 
Indians  concealed  themselves  in  the  thick  woods  on  the 
brow  of  a  ridge  overlooking  the  banks  of  the  river,  along 
which  Braddock  was  expected  to  pass,  and  there  uneasily 
awaited  his  coming. 

In  the  forenoon  of  the  9th  of  July,  the  British  force 
recrossed  the  river  near  the  mouth  of  Turtle  Creek,*  and 
without  taking  any  adequate  precautions  to  guard  against 
an  ambuscade,  boldly  climbed  the  first  bank,  and  advanced 
along  a  defile  of  the  second,  above  and  near  which  the 
enemy  lay  in  ambush.  And  now,  at  a  preconcerted  signal, 
the  Indians  raised  their  hideous  yell,  and  a  deadly  volley 
was  poured  upon  the  front  column,  which  checked  its  ad- 
vance, and  caused  it  to  fall  back  on  the  center,  and  the  center 
on  the  rear,  which  was  hemmed  in  by  the  river.  Thus  this 
brave  army,  which  might  have  advanced  and  driven  the 
enemy  from  his  covert,  speedily  became  involved  in  inex- 
tricable confusion,  and,  after  a  murderous  conflict  of  three 
hours,  was  utterly  routed  and  put  to  flight.  Of  the  four- 
teen hundred  and  sixty  officers  and  men  who  went  into  the 
battle  on  that  hot  July  day,  only  five  hundred  and  eighty- 
three  came  out  uninjured.  The  carnage  was  frightful 
among  the  officers,  who  were  picked  off'  by  the  French 
sharp-shooters.  General  Braddock  himself  fqught  with 
great  intrepidity,  but,  after  having  three  or  four  horses 
shot  under  him,  received  a  mortal  wound,  of  which  he  died 
a  few  days  later. f 


*  Lieutenant-Colonel  Gage,  who  led  the  advance  column,  first  forded 
the  river,  and  sent  back  word  that  no  enemy  was  in  sight,  whereupon 
the  rest  of  the  army  followed  after  him. 

t  This  imprudent  and  unfortunate  commander  was  born  in  Perth- 


328  The  Seven  Years'  War. 

The  French  loss,  not  counting  that  of  their  Indian  al- 
lies, was  less  than  forty;  but  it  included  their  skillful  com- 
mander, Captain  Beaujeu,  who  had  planned  the  ambuscade, 
and  who  was  killed  early  in  the  action.* 

Colonel  Washington's  clothing  was  riddled  with  bul- 
lets, and  he  escaped,  as  it  were  by'  a  miracle,  from  that  field 
of  slaughter.  His  Virginia  riflemen,  despite  Braddock's 
injudicious  orders  to  the  contrary,  took  positions  behind 
trees  and  rocks,  and  maintained  the  unequal  fight  until 
more  than  half  of  them  were  killed  and  wounded.  With 
those  that  remained,  the  dauntless  and  self-possessed  colonel 
covered  the  retreat  of  the  routed  army.  Happily  for  the 
fugitives,  the  Indian  auxiliaries  of  the  French  were  too  in- 
tent upon  the  spoils  of  the  battle  field  to  pursue  them 
beyond  the  river;  and  never  before,  in  a  single  engage- 
ment, had  the  savages  reaped  such  a  harvest  of  scalps  and 
booty  as  was  gathered  here.  The  panic  of  the  defeat  was 
quickly  communicated  to  the  rear-guard,  commanded  by 
the  pusillanimous  Colonel  Dunbar.  who  abandoned  his 
heavy  artillery  and  baggage,  and  fled  over  the  mountains 
to  Philadelphia,  leaving  the  frontier  settlements  defenseless. 

Owing  partly  to  the  discouragement  produced  by 
Braddock's  defeat,  the  other  expeditions  that  had  been 
planned  by  him  and  the  colonial  governors,  for  that  year, 
also  ended  in  failure.  The  attempt  of  Governor  Shirley 
against  Forts  Frontenac  and  Niagara  wholly  miscarried. 
The  governor,  with  a  force  composed  principally  of  raw 

shire,  Scotland,  about  the  year  1695,  and  had  risen  to  the  rank  of  major- 
general  after  forty  years  of  meritorious  service  in  the  British  army.  It  is 
affirmed,  on  what  seems  to  be  good  authority,  that  Braddock  was  fatally 
shot  in  the  side  or  back  at  the  battle  of  the  Monongahela,  by  one  of  the 
provincials,  whose  brother  had  been  stricken  down  by  the  irate  general 
for  refusing  to  obey  orders ;  yet  it  is  equally  probable  that  the  shot  was 
accidental.  General  Braddock  expired  in  the  camp  of  Colonel  Dunbar, 
on  the  13th  of  July,  and  was  buried  in  the  military  highway,  seven 
miles  east  of  Uniontown,  Pa.,  where  his  grave  is  still  shown. 

*  For  some  old  French  accounts  of  this  celebrated  battle,  see  "Relations 
Diverses  sur  la  Bataille  d'  Malanguele,  Gagn4  le  9th  a  Jouillet,  1755,  par  le  Fran- 
cais  sous  M.  le  Beaujeu,  Commandant  du  Fort  du  Quene,  sur  les  Anglois  sous 
M.  Braddock,  GJnJral  en  chef  des  troupes  Angloises"  pp.  xv.,  9-51,  N.  Y., 
1860  (— Cramoisy  Series  of  Relations  relative  to  the  French  in  America). 


The  Reduction  of  Acadia.  329 

militia,  marched  to  Oswego,  on  Lake  Ontario ;  but,  in  con- 
sequence of  the  lateness  of  the  season,  and  the  difficulty  of 
procuring  provisions  and  transports,  he  abandoned  the  ex- 
pedition and  returned  to  Albany. 

It  is  true  that  the  Acadians  of  Nova  Scotia  were  re- 
duced to  subjection,  by  a  fleet  fitted  out  for  that  purpose  at 
Boston,  with  a  land  force  of  over  two  thousand  men  under 
the  command  of  Colonel  John  Winslow,  of  Massachusetts. 
After  the  treaty  of  1748,  the  French  inhabitants  of  that 
peninsula,  living  on  the  disputed  territory,  had  not  only 
refused  to  take  the  oath  of  unqualified  allegiance  to  the 
King  of  England,  but  had  contributed  material  aid  to  their 
own  countrymen  in  the  existing  war.  They  were  now  (in 
August,  1755)  inhumanly  punished  for  their  contumacy. 
Their  petty  forts  at  the  head  of  the  Bay  of  Fundy  were 
taken  and  demolished ;  their  villages  were  burned,  and  their 
farms  laid  waste.  As  many  as  three  thousand  of  the  poor 
Acadians — men,  women  and  children — were  forcibly  put 
on  shipboard  and  transported  to  the  other  English  colonies, 
where  they  were  distributed  around  as  paupers.  Some  of 
these  unhappy  exiles,  as  we  shall  see,  eventually  found  an 
asylum  in  Lower  Louisiana,  where  they  established  a  thrifty 
and  permanent  settlement.* 

The  army,  under  General  Johnson,  which  was  intended 
to  operate  against  Crown  Point,  on  Lake  Champlain, 
reached  the  south  end  of  Lake  George  in  the  latter  part  of 


*  Longfellow  has  graphically  portrayed  the  touching  scenes  in  this 
deportation  of  the  unfortunate  Acadians,  and  thrown  around  it  the  halo 
of  romance,  in  the  polished  stanzas  of  his  "  Evangeline,"  beginning 
with  these  lines: 

"In  the  Acadian  land,  on  the  shores  of  the  Basin  of  Minas, 
Distant,  secluded,  still,  the  little  village  of  Grand  Pre 
Lay  in  the  fruitful  valley." 

The  history  of  the  Acadians  is  long,  varied  and  interesting.  They 
were,  in  truth,  the  sport  of  fortune  from  the  time  of  DeMonts  (1604) 
until  the  treaty  of  Paris,  in  1763.  Their  descendants,  however,  are  still 
numerous  in  northern  Nova  Scotia.  The  name  of  this  peninsula  was 
first  changed  from  Acadia  to  Nova  Scotia  in  1621,  when  Sir  Wm.  Alex- 
ander obtained  a  grant  of  the  country  from  James  I.,  and  undertook  to 
colonize  it  with  Scotchmen. 


830  The  Seven  Years'  War. 

August,  (1755),  when  information  was  received  that  two 
thousand  of  the  enemy,  commanded  by  Baron  Dieskau, 
who  had  recently  arrived  with  fresh  troops  from  France, 
were  marching  against  Fort  Edward,  on  the  Hudson.  Gen- 
eral Johnson  thereupon  detached  Colonel  Williams,  with  a 
strong  force,  to  intercept  this  movement  of  the  French. 
Colonel  Williams  unexpectedly  fell  in  with  the  army  of 
Baron  Dieskau,  on  the  8th  of  September,  when  a  bloody 
action  took  place,  in  which  the  English  were  defeated  and 
put  to  flight,  aud  "Williams  himself  was  slain.  But  when 
the  French,  flushed  with  their  success,  advanced  to  attack 
the  main  body  of  Johnson's  army,  they  were  warmly  re- 
ceived, and,  after  an  obstinate  conflict,  were  driven  from 
the  field  with  heavy  loss,  Dieskau  himself  being  mortally 
wounded  and  taken  prisoner.  Satisfied  with  this  hard-won 
victory,  General  Johnson  gave  over  the  further  prosecution 
of  his  movement  against  Crown  Point.  Soon  after  these 
events,  the  English  constructed  a  regular  fort  at  the  head 
of  Lake  George,  and  called  it  Fort  William  Henry. 

In  July,  1756,  Lord  Loudon  arrived  in  America,  as 
commander-in-chief  of  the  British  forces.  An  army  of 
about  twelve  thousand  men  was  raised  this  year,  which  was 
better  prepared  to  take  the  field  than  any  other  that  had 
been  assembled  within  the  colonies.  But  the  change  of 
commanders  delayed  military  operations,  and  nothing  of 
any  consequence  was  accomplished  by  the  English  army. 
The  French,  however,  under  the  able  conduct  of  the  Mar- 
quis de  Montcalm,  struck  at  least  one  vigorous  blow.  This 
was  directed  against  Fort  Ontario,  at  Oswego,  on  Lake 
Ontario.  In  the  early  part  August  they  attacked  this  fort, 
with  a  strong  armament,  and  quickly  compelled  its  sur- 
render, with  a  garrison  of  over  one  thousand  men,  and  a 
large  quantity  of  artillery  and  valuable  stores.  By  the  loss 
of  Oswego,  and  the  defeat  of  Braddock  in  the  preceding 
year,  all  the  western  country  was  laid  open  to  the  ravages 
of  the  enemy;  and  the  Indians,  sustained  and  encouraged 
by  the  French,  now  wasted  the  frontiers  of  Pennsylvania 
and  Virginia,  in  particular,  with  a  pitiless  and  desolating 


Montcalm  Takes  Fort  William  Henry.  331 

The  next  year,  1757,  was  marked  by  the  same  inactiv- 
ity and  inefficiency  on  the  part  of  the  English,  and  by  an- 
other successful  expedition  on  the  side  of  the  French.  The 
English  colonists,  as  a  rule,  displayed  great  energy  in  rais- 
ing men  and  money  for  the  war ;  but  their  efforts  were 
paralyzed  by  the  want  of  concert  with  each  other,  by  the 
necessity  of  awaiting  orders  from  England,  and  by  the 
dilatory  and  do-nothing  policy  of  the  incompetent  gen- 
erals sent  over  to  command  them.  On  the  other  hand, 
Montcalm,  as  general-in-chief  of  the  French,  not  being 
obliged  to  take  counsel  with  any  one  (unless  it  was  the 
governor  of  Canada),  speedily  collected  a  force  of  about 
eight  thousand  men,  including  Canadians  and  Indians,  with 
which  he  passed  up  lakes  Champlain  and  George,  and  laid 
siege  to  Fort  William  Henry.  The  garrison  here  was  nearly 
three  thousand  strong,  commanded  by  Colonel  Monroe,  a 
brave  officer,  and  General  Webb  was  at  Fort  Edward,  only 
fourteen  miles  away,  with  four  thousand  more.  But  the 
latter  made  no  effort  to  succor  the  beleagured  fort,  and 
manifested  so  much  indifference  to  its  fate  that  he  was  sus- 
pected of  treachery.  After  standing  a  close  siege  for  six 
days,  and  seeing  that  he  was  to  have  no  relief  from  General 
Webb,  Colonel  Monroe  capitulated  on  terms  honorable  to 
himself  and  the  garrison.  But  the  savage  auxiliaries  of 
the  French,  paying  no  regard  to  the  articles  of  capitula- 
tion, nor  to  the  entreaty  of  Montcalm,  fell  upon  the  En- 
glish after  the  surrender,  robbed  them  of  their  baggage 
and  other  effects,  massacred  their  sick  and  wounded,  and 
killed  and  scalped  the  Indians  in  their  service. 

The  unexpected  capture  of  this  valuable  post,  together 
with  the  Indian  atrocities  attending  it,  caused  great  alarm 
throughout  New  York  and  New  England,  and,  when  too 
late,  large  re-inforcements  of  militia  were  assembled  and 
sent  forward  to  Albany  and  Fort  Edward.  Meantime, 
however,  General  Montcalm,  after  ravaging  the  settle- 
ments on  the  Mohawk  River,  retired  into  Canada. 

Thus  far  the  war  had  been  very  disastrous  and  dis- 
couraging to  the  English.  After  three  consecutive  cam- 
paigns, the  French  not  only  retained  every  foot  of  the 


332  The  Seven  Years'  War. 

disputed  territory,  but  had  captured  Oswego,  driven  their 
antagonists  from  Lake  George,  and,  through  their  Indian 
confederates,  had  carried  the  brand  and  tomahawk  into 
the  heart  of  the  English  settlements.  To  remedy  this 
series  of  defeats  in  America,  as  well  as  elsewhere,  Will- 
iam Pitt,  afterward  Earl  of  Chatham,  was  called  to  the 
head  of  the  English  ministry.  He  took  the  helm  in  June, 
1757,  and  by  his  vigor  and  consummate  ability,  soon  gave 
a  new  and  surprising  turn  to  affairs. 

In  the  spring  of  1758,  General  Abercrombie,  who 
had  been  appointed  to  the  chief  command  in  place  of 
Lord  London,  found  himself  at  the  head  of  about  fifty 
thousand  fighting  men,  one-half  of  whom  were  regulars. 
This  was  the  largest  force  that  had  ever  been  seen  in 
America,  and  from  it  was  expected  great  results.  On  the 
other  hand,  all  the  French  Canadians  capable  of  bearing 
arms  did  not  exceed  twenty  thousand,  and  they  had  been 
so  constantly  in  the  service  that  agriculture  was  neglected, 
and  the  horrors  of  partial  famine  were  added  to  those  of 
war. 

On  the  28th  of  May  a  powerful  armament,  which  had 
been  fitted  out  in  England,  sailed  from  Halifax  for  the 
reduction  of  Louisburg — the  Dunkirk  of  New  France — 
which  was  defended  by  the  Chevalier  de  Drucourt,  with 
3,100  men.  The  English  fleet,  consisting  of  twenty  ships 
of  the  line  and  eighteen  frigates,  besides  numerous  trans- 
ports, was  commanded  by  Admiral  Boscawen,  and  carried 
a  land  force  of  fourteen  thousand  men,  under  General 
Amherst.  Arrived  before  Louisburg  the  2d  of  June,  a 
close  investment  was  begun  of  the  town  both  by  sea  and 
land.  After  a  stubborn  defense,  the  French  garrison  sur- 
rendered on  the  27th  of  July,  and,  together  with  the 
sailors  and  marines  (amounting  in  all  to  5,737  men),  were 
transported  prisoners  of  war  to  England.  The  loss  of 
this  colossal  fortress,  with  all  its  cannon,  mortars,  military 
stores,  and  shipping  in  the  harbor,  was  the  most  effectual 
blow  that  France  had  received  since  the  beginning  of  the 
war.  It  made  the  English  masters  of  the  entire  coast  from 


Defeat  of  General  Abercrombie  at  Ticonderoga.        333 

Halifax  to  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  and  greatly 
facilitated  their  conquest  of  Canada.* 

Early  in  July  of  that  year,  General  Abercrombie  moved 
with  an  army  of  fifteen  thousand  effective  men  against  Fort 
Ticonderoga,  on  Lake  Champlain.  Montcalm  had  mean- 
time thrown  himself  with  a  strong  force  into  the  fort,  and 
had  so  obstructed  the  approach  to  it  by  an  abatis  of  felled 
trees  that  it  was  impregnable,  except  by  the  processes  of  a 
regular  siege.  The  English  troops,  with  more  courage  than 
calculation,  attacked  the  enemy's  lines  in  front,  and,  after 
a  desperate  conflict  of  four  hours,  were  routed  with  heavy 
loss,  and  retreated  precipitately  to  their  camp  at  the  foot  of 
Lake  George.  To  offset  this  mortifying  defeat,  the  result 
of  bad  generalship,  Colonel  John  Bradstreet  was  shortly 
detached,  with  a  force  of  three  thousand  provincials,  on  an 
expedition  againset  Fort  Frontenac.  He  crossed  the  outlet 
of  Ontario  Lake,  landed  within  a  mile  of  the  fort,  planted 
his  batteries,  and  speedily  compelled  the  surrender  of  its 
garrison  and  munitions.  By  the  capture  and  demolition  of 
Fort  Frontenac,  the  English  gained  practical  control  of 
Lake  Ontario,  and  cut  off  the  main  line  of  communication 
between  Montreal  and  the  French  posts  in  the  West. 

While  these  momentous  events  were  transpiring  in  the 
north,  General  Joseph  Forbes,  who  had  been  appointed  to 
command  the  expedition  to  the  Ohio,  was  slowly  advancing, 
with  an  army  of  seven  thousand  men  (including  wagoners, 
sutlers,  and  camp-followers),  to  the  conquest  of  Fort  Du- 
quesne.  The  British  general  left  Philadelphia  in  June,  and 
was  joined  en  route  by  Colonel  Washington,  with  two  regi- 
ments of  Virginia  militia.  In  consequence  of  the  serious 
obstacles  encountered  in  opening  a  new  road  across  the 
Alleghanies,  this  army  was  greatly  retarded  in  its  march, 


*  The  fortifications  at  Louisburg  (which  stood  on  the  south-eastern 
side  of  Cape  Breton  Island)  had  been  thirty  years  in  building,  and  had 
cost  the  French  government  over  $5,000,000.  After  this  second  capture 
by  the  British,  the  fortress  was  demolished  and  never  again  re-built. 
The  town  itself  was  ruined  during  the  siege,  and  its  present  population 
comprises  only  a  few  fishermen. 


334  The  Seven  Years'  War. 

and  did  not  reach  the  head  of  the  Ohio  till  the  25th  of 
November. 

In  the  meantime  Colonel  Grant,  commanding  a  de- 
tachment from  the  main  army,  had  pushed  ahead  to  recon- 
noiter  the  situation  of  the  fort.  But  he  was  suddenly  at- 
tacked and  driven  back  with  considerable  loss,  by  M.  Aubry, 
who  had  recently  arrived  with  a  reinforcement  of  French 
troops  from  the  Illinois. 

When  General  Forbes  reached  Fort  Duquesne,  he  found 
it  deserted  and  burned.  The  French  garrison,  numbering 
about  five  hundred  men,  had  set  fire  to  the  wooden  building 
on  the  preceding  night,  and  fled  down  the  river  in  boats? 
carrying  with  them  their  ordnance  and  stores.  Taking 
quiet  possession  of  the  burnt  fort,  Forbes  caused  it  to  be 
forthwith  repaired,  and  changed  its  name  to  Fort  Pitt,  in 
compliment  to  the  English  prime  minister.  At  the  same 
time  he  sent  out  a  body  of  men  to  the  battle-ground  on  the 
Monongahela,  to  bury  the  dead  soldiers  of  Braddock's 
army,  whose  bones  had  been  left  to  bleach  there  for  three 
years  on  the  hillsides. 

Leaving  two  regiments  of  provincials  as  a  garrison  at 
Fort  Pitt,  General  Forbes  returned  by  short  marches  to 
Philadelphia ;  but  his  constitution  was  so  broken  by  the  ex- 
posure and  fatigues  of  the  campaign,  that  he  died  shortly 
after  his  arrival  thither.  And  now  the  Indian  nations, 
throughout  the  region  of  the  Upper  Ohio,  seeing  that  the 
French  were  losing  ground,  and  ever  ready  to  join  the 
stronger  side,*  made  overtures  of  peace  to  the  English.  A 
treaty  of  pacification  was  accordingly  entered  into  with 
them,  which  gave  security  for  a  few  years  to  the  border 
settlements  in  Pennsylvania  and  Virginia. 

In  passing  down  the  Ohio  from  Fort  Duquesne,  M. 
Aubry,  the  French  commander,  made  a  halt  about  thirty- 
six  miles  above  its  mouth,  and  there  on  the  site  of  a  former 
fortlet,  on  the  northern  bank  of  the  river,  commenced 
building  a  fort,  at  which  he  left  one  hundred  men  for  gar- 

*  In  this  particular,  they  were  not  unlike  many  of  the  more  civilized 
descendants  of  Adam. 


Fort  Massac  6h  the  Ohio.  335 

rison  duty,  and  returned  with  the  rest  to  Fort  Chart-res. 
The  new  post  was  called  Fort  Massac,  in  compliment  to  M. 
Massac,  or  Marsiac,  the  officer  who  first  commanded  there. 
This  was  the  last  fort  erected  hy  the  French  on  the  Ohio, 
and  it  was  occupied  by  a  garrison  of  French  troops  until 
the  evacuation  of  the  country  under  the  stipulations  of  the 
Treaty  of  Paris,  in  1763.* 


*  Monette's  "  Valley  of  the  Mississippi,"  vol.  i,  p.  317. 

Note. — The  early  French  history  of  Fort  Massac  dates  back  to  the 
beginning  of  the  last  century,  but  it  is  obscured  by  time  and  fiction. 
Dr.  Lewis  C.  Beck,  in  his  "  Gazetteer  of  Illinois  and  Missouri  "  (Albany, 
N.  Y.,  1823,  p.  114),  describing  the  place,  says:  "A  fort  was  first  built 
here  by  the  French  when  in  possession  of  this  country.  The  Indians, 
who  were  then  at  war  with  them,  laid  a  curious  stratagem  to  take  it, 
which  answered  their  purpose.  A  number  of  them  appeared  in  the 
daytime  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river,  each  of  whom  was  covered 
with  a  bear-skin,  and  walked  on  all-fours.  Supposing  them  to  be  bears, 
a  party  of  the  French  crossed  the  river  in  pursuit  of  them.  The  re- 
mainder of  the  troops  left  their  quarters,  and  resorted  to  the  bank  of  the 
river  in  front  of  the  fort  to  observe  the  sport.  In  the  meantime  a  large 
body  of  warriors,  who  were  concealed  in  the  woods  near  by,  came 
silently  up  behind  the  fort  and  entered  it  without  opposition,  and  very 
few  of  the  Frenchmen  escaped  the  carnage.  They  afterward  built 
another  fort  on  the  same  ground,  and  called  it  Massac  (or  Massacre),  in 
memory  of  this  disastrous  event."  This  romantic  story  is  repeated  by 
Judge  Hall,  in  his  "  Sketches  of  the  West,"  and  by  other  western 
writers.  Ex-Governor  Reynolds,  in  his  "Own  Times"  (2d  ed.,  p.  16), 
writes  more  specifically  of  the  fort,  as  follows:  "Fort  Massac  was  first 
established  by  the  French  about  the  year  1711,  and  was  also  a  mission- 
ary station.  It  was  only  a  small  fort  until  the  war  commenced  in  1755, 
between  the  English  and  the  French.  In  1756  (1758),  the  fort  was  en- 
larged and  made  a  respectable  fortress,  considering  the  wilderness  it  was 
in.  It  was  at  this  place  that  the  Christian  missionaries  (first)  instructed 
the  southern  Indians  in  the  gospel  precepts,  and  it  was  here  also  that 
the  French  soldiers  made  a  resolute  stand  against  the  enemy."  Fort 
Massac  was  subsequently  maintained  by  the  United  States  government 
as  a  military  post,  and  a  few  families  resided  in  the  immediate  vicinity, 
until  after  the  close  of  the  war  of  1812-14.  During  this  later  period  of 
its  history  it  was  sometimes  called  the  "  old  Cherokee  Fort,"  from  the 
river  of  that  name,  better  known  as  the  Tennessee.  In  1855  Reynolds 
visited  the  place,  which,  in  his  "  Own  Times,"  he  thus  describes:  "The 
outside  walls  were  one  hundred  and  thirty-five  feet  square,  and  at  each 
angle  strong  bastions  were  erected.  The  walls  were  'palisaded,  with 
earth  between  the  wood ;  a  large  well  was  sunk  in  the  fortress  ;  and  the 
whole  appeared  to  have  been  strong  and  substantial  in  its  day.  Three 
or  four  acres  of  graveled  walks  were  made  on  the  north  of  the  fort,  on 


336  The  Seven  Years'  War. 

Stimulated  by  the  brilliant  successes  that  had  attended 
their  arms  in  the  campaign  of  1758,  the  British  ministry  re- 
solved to  make  a  supreme  effort  the  next  year  for  the  com- 
plete conquest  of  Canada.  The  Anglo-American  colonies, 
zealously  seconding  the  exertions  of  the  home  government, 
brought  into  the  field  twenty  thousand  provincials,  and 
raised  a  large  sum  of  money  for  their  equipment  and  sus- 
tenance. At  a  general  military  council,  held  early  in  the 
year  1759,  it  was  decided  to  invade  Canada  with  three  dif- 
ferent armies,  which  should  enter  the  country  by  three 
separate  routes,  and  commence  offensive  operations  at  about 
the  same  time.  The  command  of  the  first  and  principal 
expedition,  which  was  destined  against  Quebec,  was  in- 
trusted to  General  James  "Wolfe,  a  young  brigadier  of  great 
enterprise  and  promise,  who  had  distinguished  himself  by 
his  valor  and  conduct  at  the  reduction  of  Louisburg.  Of 
the  two  subsidiary  expeditions,  one,  under  General  Sir  Jef- 
frey Amherst,  was  to  proceed  by  way  of  Lake  Champlain 
to  Montreal,  and  the  other  was  to  march  against  Fort 
Niagara. 

General  Amherst's  operations  were  impeded  and  re- 
stricted by  a  lack  of  vessels  and  transports.  Yet  Ticon- 
deroga  and  Crown  Point  successively  fell  into  his  hands 
without  a  struggle — the  danger  to  Quebec  having  caused 
the  withdrawal  of  the  greater  part  of  their  French  garri- 
sons— and  a  detachment  of  his  army  attacked  and  burned 
the  Indian  village  of  St.  Francis,  whence  many  of  those 
scalping  parties  were  believed  to  have  issued,  which  had 
ravaged  the  frontiers  of  New  England.  General  Prideaux 
was  unhappily  killed  by  the  bursting  of  a  gun  at  the  siege 
of  Niagara;  but  his  successor  in  command,  Sir  William 
Johnson,  on  the  24th  of  July,  defeated  a  force  of  twelve 
hundred  French  and  Indians,  who  had  advanced  to  relieve 
the  fort,  and  he  pressed  the  siege  so  vigorously  that  the 
garrison  soon  capitulated.  Johnson  should  then  have 

which  the  soldiers  paraded.  These  walks  were  made  in  exact  angles, 
and  are  beautifully  graveled  with  pebbles  from  the  river.  The  site  is 
one  of  the  most  beautiful  on  La  Belle  Riviere,  and  commands  a  view  that 
is  charming." 


Wolfe's  Victory  Over  Montcalm  at  Quebec.  337 

passed  down  Lake  Ontario  and  the  St.  Lawrence,  to  co- 
operate with  Wolfe  in  the  attack  upon  Quebec,  but  the 
want  of  facilities  for  transporting  his  .troops  prevented  the 
execution  of  this  purpose. 

In  the  latter  part  of  June,  General  Wolfe  appeared  in 
the  St.  Lawrence,  below  Quebec,  with  a  powerful  fleet,  and  an 
army  of  eight  thousand  regular  soldiers.  His  force,  though 
hardly  equal  in  number  to  that  of  the  French,  was  bet- 
ter equipped  and  provisioned ;  but  the  latter  had  the  ad- 
vantage of  one  of  the  strongest  natural  fortresses  in  the 
world,  which  had  been  greatly  strengthened  by  art,  and 
they  were  commanded  by  a  general  of  consummate  ability, 
who  had  merited  the  first  honors  in  war.  So  long  as  Wolfe 
sought  to  bombard  Quebec  from  his  batteries  at  Point  Levi, 
on  the  opposite  height  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  or  assaulted 
the  French  intrenchments  below  the  city,  along  the  St. 
Charles,  his  efforts  were  easily  frustrated  by  the  tact  and 
vigilance  of  Montcalm.  But,  after  trying  various  expedi- 
ents, the  British  general  at  last  hit  upon  the  bold  design  of 
moving  his  forces  from  the  Isle  of  Orleans  (his  base  of  op- 
erations) up  the  river,  and  then  dropping  down  at  night,  in 
flat-bottomed  boats,  and  silently  scaling  the  high  plateau 
known  as  the  Heights  of  Abraham,  at  a  point  about  one 
mile  above  the  citadel  of  Quebec.  This  critical  movement 
was  as  skillfully  executed  as  it  had  been  daringly  planned, 
though  the  aclivity  was  so  steep  and  rugged  that  the  sol- 
diers could,  with  difficulty,  climb  it  by  clinging  to  the  pro- 
jecting rocks  and  roots  of  trees.  Learning  with  surprise 
and  chagrin  that  the  English  had  thus  gained  a  position  in 
his  rear,  where  his  defenses  were  rather  weak,  and  seeing 
that  a  battle  was  unavoidable,  Montcalm  drew  out  his 
army  of  five  thousand  men  on  the  sloping  plain  behind  the 
town,  and  put  the  fate  of  Canada  on  the  hazard  of  a  single 
engagement.  Nor  was  the  issue  long  in  doubt.  After 
some  skirmishing  in  front  by  a  body  of  light  armed  Cana- 
dian and  Indian  marksmen,  the  French  advanced  briskly 
to  the  charge.  The  English  received  them  with  firmness, 
but  reserved  their  fire  until  the  enemy  was  near,  and  then 
22 


338  The  Seven  Years'  War. 

delivered  it  with  decisive  effect.  The  French  fought  with 
valor  and  determination  until  the  fall  of  their  general  and 
his  second  in  command,  when  they  retreated,  and  were  pur- 
sued almost  to  the  gates  of  the  city. 

This  famous  battle  was  fought  September  13,  1759. 
The  English  lost  in  killed  and  wounded  six  hundred  men, 
and  the  French  nearly  one  thousand.  Generals  Wolfe  and 
Montcalm  were  both  mortally  wounded,  the  former  dying 
on  the  field  of  conflict,  and  the  latter  on  the  next  day  within 
the  city  walls.*  On  the  18th  of  that  month  the  citadel  of 
Quebec  was  formally  surrendered,  and  received  a  British 
garrison  of  five  thousand  men.  The  royal  ensign  of  France, 
which,  with  a  single  interval  of  three  years,  had  waved 
over  this  fortress  for  a  century  and  a  half,  was  now  low- 
ered from  its  staff,  and  in  its  place  was  unfurled  the  victo- 
rious cross  of  St.  George. 

But  the  submission  of  Canada  did  not  immediately 
follow  after  the  fall  of  Quebec.  The  war  was  further  pro- 
tracted. The  Chevalier  de  Levis  succeeded  to  the  com- 
mand made  vacant  by  the  death  of  Montcalm,  and  strove 
to  retake  the  city  by  a  coup  de  main.  Another  pitched 
battle  was  fought  a  few  miles  above  Quebec,  on  the  28th 
of  April,  1760,  in  which  the  French  army  gained  the  ad- 
vantage, and  they  made  the  most  strenuous  yet  unavailing 
efforts  to  recover  their  lost  citadel  and  seat  of  power.  It 
was  not  until  the  8th  of  September,  1760,  when  the  united 
British  forces  were  concentrated  before  Montreal,  that  ar- 
ticles of  capitulation  were  signed  by  the  governor-general, 
the  Marquis  de  Vaudreuil.  By  these  terms  Canada  and 
its  dependencies  were  surrendered  to  the  English  crown, 
with  a  reservation  to  the  French  inhabitants  of  their  civil 
and  religious  privileges. 

Equally  unsuccessful,  both  in  Europe  and  America,  and 
exhausted  by  her  great  and  protracted  exertions,  France 
now  made  overtures  of  peace.  These  were  favorably  con- 

*  After,  receiving  his  mortal  wound,  Montcalm  was  carried  into  the 
city  ;  and  when  informed  that  he  could  survive  only  a  few  hours,  he 
replied  :  "So  much  the  better ;  I  shall  not  then  live  to  see  the  surren- 
der of  Quebec." 


Submission  of  Canada  to  the  English  Crown.         339 

sidered  by  England,  and  every  thing  seemed  in  a  fair  way 
of  adjustment,  when  the  negotiations  were  suddenly  broken 
off'  by  the  attempt  of  the  court  of  Versailles  to  bring  in  the 
affairs  of  Spain  and  Germany.  A  secret  compact  of  the 
Bourbon  princes  to  support  each  other,  in  peace  and  in  war, 
had  rendered  Spain  averse  to  a  treaty  which  weakened  her 
ally,  and  thisi  induced  France  to  once  more  try  the  fortunes 
of  war.  As  the  interests  of  these  two  nations  were  thus 
identical,  it  only  remained  for  the  King  of  England  to  pro- 
claim hostilities  with  Spain.  The  New  England  colonies, 
being  interested  in  the  reduction  of  the  West  Indies,  on 
account  of  their  commerce  with  them,  furnished  a  liberal 
quota  of  men  and  means  for  continuing  the  war;  and 
a  great  fleet  was  dispatched  from  old  England,  bearing  a 
land  force  of  some  sixteen  thousand  men.  These  combined 
forces  acted  with  such  vigor  and  celerity  that,  before  the 
end  of  the  next  year,  Great  Britain  had  gained  possession 
of  Havana  (the  key  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico),  Grenada,  Martin- 
ique, St.  Lucia,  St.  Vincent,  and  the  Caribbee  Islands. 

The  rapid  progress  of  her  conquests,  which  threatened 
the  remaining  possessions  of  France  and  Spain,  was  arrested, 
however,  by  the  exchange  of  preliminary  articles  of  peace 
at  Fontainebleau,  toward  the  close  of  the  year  1762.  On 
the  10th  of  the  ensuing  February,  1763,  a  definitive  treaty  of 
peace  was  signed  at  Paris,  and  it  was  soon  after  ratified  by 
the  respective  powers.  By  this  memorable  treaty,  France 
ceded  to  Great  Britain  all  the  conquests  made  by  the  latter 
in  North  America  during  the  war.  The  western  boundary 
of  the  British  possessions  was  fixed  to  run  along  the  mid- 
dle of  the  Mississippi  River,  from  its  source  down  to  the 
Iberville,  and  thence  along  the  center  of  that  river  or  bayou, 
and  through  Lakes  Maurepas  and  Pontchartrain  to  the 
Mexican  Gulf.  All  of  Louisiana  lying  west  of  the  Missis- 
sippi, together  with  the  district  of  New  Orleans  on  the 
east,  had  been  ceded  from  France  to  Spain  by  a  private 
treaty,  executed  at  Fontainebleau  on  November  3,  1762, 
which  was  permitted  to  stand.*  By  the  treaty  of  Paris, 

*  See  Article  seventh  of  the  Paris  treaty  in  Chap.  XIX  of  this  work. 


340  The  Seven  Years'  War. 

England  also  acquired  large  territorial  possessions  in  India 
and  elsewhere. 

Such  was  the  final  outcome  of  this  prolonged  and  san- 
guinary war,  whereby  the  great  power  of  the  French  mon- 
archy in  America  was  permanently  annihilated.  The  strug- 
gle was  computed  to  have  cost  the  Anglo-American  colonies 
thirty  thousand  lives, 'and  over  sixteen  millions  of  dollars, 
of  which  only  five  millions  were  ever  reimburse'd  to  them  by 
the  government  of  Great  Britain.  Among  the  more  direct 
advantages  accruing  to  the  colonies  from  the  war,  was  a 
marked  increase  in  their  trade  and  population;  while  the 
indirect  benefits,  such  as  unity  and  concert  of  action  in 
emergency,  and  knowledge  and  experience  in  military 
science,  prepared  the  way  for  the  War  of  Independence. 


NOTICE  OF  MONTCALM. 

Louis  Joseph,  Marquis  de  Moncalm-Gozon  de  St.  V^rain,  the  most 
celebrated  soldier  in  French- American  history,  was  born  at  the  chateau 
of  Candiac,  near  Nismes,  in  the  south  of  France,  on  the  29th  of  Febru- 
ary, 1712,  and  died  in  Quebec,  Canada,  September  14,  1759.  His  educa- 
tion was  directed  by  one  Dumas,  a  natural  son  of  his  grandfather,  and  at 
the  age  of  fourteen  he  entered  the  French  army  as  an  ensign,  in  the  regi- 
ment of  Hainault.  He  served  with  gallantry  and  distinction  in  Italy 
and  Germany,  and  was  promoted  from  one  position  to  another  until  he 
attained  the  rank  of  general.  In  the  spring  of  1756  he  was  appointed  to 
succeed  the  Baron  Dieskau  in  command  of  the  French  forces  in  North 
America,  and  arrived  at  Quebec  about  the  middle  of  May.  His  subse- 
quent eventful  career  is  written  in  the  history  of  that  war.  It  is  believed 
that  if  he  had  received  timely  reinforcements  from  his  home  govern- 
ment, he  could  have  maintained  the  authority  of  France  in  Canada. 
General  Montcalm  is  described  as  a  man  of  small  stature,  with  a  fine 
head,  a  vivacious  countenance,  and  a  rapid,  impetuous  speech.  He  had 
a  nice  sense  of  honor  and  ardent  patriotism,  combined  with  the  tastes 
of  a  scholar,  and  a  love  of  rural  pursuits.  He  possessed  true  military 
genius,  and  as  a  commander  stands  very  high,  though  not  in  the  highest 
rank.  His  last  years  were  embittered,  and  his  popularity  impaired,  by 
contentions  with  the  governor  of  Canada,  the  Marquis  de  Vaudreuil, 
who,  during  the  life  of  his  rival,  and  after  his  death,  lost  no  opportunity 
of  traducing  him.  (Appleton's  Cyclop,  of  Amer.  Biog.,  vol.  iv.,  p.  364.) 
Upon  the  final  overthrow  of  the  French  power  in  Canada,  the  friends  of 
the  dead  general  preferred  serious  charges  to  the  king  against  Governor 
Vaudreuil,  who  was  thereupon  summoned  to  appear  and  answer  them 


Wolfe  and  Montcalm.  341 

in  France.  But,  after  a  full  investigation  of  the  acts  of  his  administra- 
tion by  a  competent  tribunal,  he  was  exonerated.  Having  lost  his  prop- 
erty, he  died  in  Paris,  October  20,  1765. 

On  the  20th  of  November,  1827,  during  Lord  Dalhousie's  adminis- 
tration in  Canada,  when  the  animosities  and  race  prejudices,  engen- 
dered and  perpetuated  by  centuries  of  cruel  warfare,  had  been  in  a 
measure  obliterated,  the  corner-stone  of  a  monument  to  the  joint  mem- 
ory of  Montcalm  and  Wolfe  was  laid,  with  military  and  Masonic  cere- 
monies, in  the  Palace  Garden,  formerly  attached  to  the  old  Castle  of 
St.  Louis,  in  the  Upper  Town  of  Quebec.  This  appropriate  monument — 
built  of  gray  granite  in  the  form  of  an  obelisk— is  sixty-five  feet  high, 
and  bears  upon  its  pedestal  the  following  Latin  inscription : 

Wolfe— Mvntcalm. 
Mortem,  Virtus  Communem, 

Famam  Historia, 

Monufnentwn  Posteritas. 

Dedit  A.  D.  1827. 

Which,  being  freely  rendered  into  English,  reads  thus:  "Military  vir- 
tue gave  them  a  common  death ;  History  a  common  fame ;  Posterity  a 
common  monument."* 


*In  1832  Lord  Aylmar,  governor-general  of  Canada,  caused  to  be  erected  on  the 
Plains  of  Abraham,  at  the  spot  where  Wolfe  fell,  a  granite  monument  ten  feet  high. 
But  it  became  so  broken  and  defaced  in  a  few  years  by  relic  hunters,  that  it  was  re- 
placed in  1849  by  a  Doric  column,  inclosed  by  an  iron  fence.  This  beautiful  pillar 
was  erected  at  the  expense  of  the  British  Army  in  Canada;  and  on  the  west  side  of 
its  pedestal,  as  on  the  former  monument,  are  inscribed  the  words:  "Here  died 
Wolfe  Victorious,  Sept.  13, 1759." 


342  Conspiracy  and  War  of  Pontiac. 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

1760-1765. 
INDIAN    CONSPIRACY   AND   WAR   OF   PONTIAC. 

During  the  prolonged  and  bitter  struggle  between 
France  and  Great  Britain  for  supremacy  on  this  continent, 
as  hereinbefore  succinctly  narrated,  the  French  settlements 
in  Upper  and  Lower  Louisiana,  being  remote  from  the 
principal  theater  of  warfare,  were  but  slightly  affected  by 
its  various  fluctuations,  though  most  of  the  garrisons  in  this 
western  province  were  withdrawn,  from  time  to  time,  to 
participate  in  the  ensanguined  contest.  The  dread  of 
British  conquest  no  doubt  operated  to  dull  the  energies  and 
cloud  the  future  of  these  detached  colonists ;  yet  they  lived 
on  in  comparative  tranquillity  and  happiness,  no  scenes  of 
rapine  and  bloodshed  occurring  in  their  midst  to  disturb 
the  even  tenor  of  their  lives.  It  was  only  when  the  war 
between  the  two  rival  kingdoms  had  ceased,  and  after  the 
peace  of  Paris,  that  its  wide  reaching  results  were  brought 
directly  home  to  them. 

M.  Neyon  de  Villiers*  was  then  major-commandant 
of  the  Illinois,  and  the  Sieur  d'  Annville  was  king's  ad- 
vocate and  judge,  doing  duty  as  commissary.  Among  the 
few  records  extant  of  their  official  acts,  we  find  the  grant 
of  a  certain  tract  of  land,  for  use  as  a  stock  farm,  to  one 
Joseph  Labusciere,  who  had'made  written  application  there- 
for "at  New  Chartre,  the  22d  September,  1761."f 


*  DeVilliers  had  been  taken  prisoner  by  the  English  at  Fort  Niagara, 
in  July,  1759,  but  was  afterward  exchanged  or  released. 

t  Appended  to  Labusciere's  application  appears  the  following  official 
indorsement : 

"  In  consideration  of  the  above  declarations  and  others  from  other 
quarters,  we  have  granted  and  do  grant  to  Joseph  Labusiere  the  land 
(called  la  belle  fontaine)  situated  between  the  hills  and  Outard's  marsh^ 


Major  Rogers  Occupies  Detroit.  343 

We  now  proceed  to  recount  the  military  transactions 
that  took  place  in  the  West  after  the  capitulation  of  Mon- 
treal. On  the  12th  of  September,  1760,  Major  Robert 
Rogers,  a  gallant  colonial  officer  of  New  Hampshire,  re- 
ceived orders  from  General  Amherst  to  ascend  the  lakes 
with  a  strong  detachment  of  rangers,  and  take  possession, 
in  the  name  of  his  Britannic  majesty,  of  Detroit,  Mackinac 
and  other  western  posts  still  held  by  the  French.  While 
Rogers'  flotilla  was  on  its  way  up  Lake  Erie,  being  delayed 
by  stormy  weather,  he  dispatched  a  courier  in  advance  to 
inform  Captain  Belestre,  the  French  commandant  at  De- 
troit, that  Canada  had  surrendered,  and  that  an  English 
force  was  on  its  way  to  relieve  him  of  his  command. 
Taking  umbrage  at  the  informality  of  the  notice,  and 
doubtless  wanting  a  pretext  for  delay,  Belestre  incited  the 
Indians  around  the  post  to  measures  of  resistance.  Ac- 
cordingly, when  Major  Rogers  reached  the  head  of  Lake 
Erie,  he  found  a  force  of  about  four  hundred  warriors 
ready  to  dispute  his  farther  progress.  But  through  the 
active  intervention  of  Pontiac,  or  Pondiac,  the  great  Ot- 
tawa chief  (with  whom  Rogers  had  recently  held  an  inter- 
view on  the  .lake  shore),  he  and  his  men  were  allowed  to 
advance  unmolested  to  Detroit.  They  arrived  thither  in 
the  last  week  of  November,  and  on  the  29th  of  that  month, 
this  military  and  trading  post,  the  most  considerable  in  the 
central  lake  region,  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  English. 
The  French  garrison,  composed  of  three  officers  and  thirty 
privates,  quietly  laid  down  their  arms,  to  the  astonishment 
of  the  Indians  present,  and  were  sent  prisoners  of  war  to 
Montreal.  The  Canadian  residents  of  the  district  were  left 
in  the  undisturbed  possession  of  their  houses  and  lands,  but 


prayed  for  by  him,  according  as  it  is  explained  and  described  in  the 
present  petition,  on  condition  that  the  said  land  shall  be  subject  to  the 
public  charges,  and  that  it  shall  be  put  to  profit  or  built  upon  in  the 
course  of  the  year  beginning  from  this  day,  under  the  penalty  of  being 
again  reunited  to  the  king's  domain. 

'•  Given  at  Fort  Charte,  this  fourth  day  of  January,  1762. 

(Signed),  "  NOYON  DEVILLIBRS. 

"  D'ANNVTLLE." 


344  Conspiracy  and  War  of  Pontiac. 

were  required  to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  British 
crown. 

As  heretofore  remarked,  the  first  permanent  military 
settlement  of  Detroit  was  made  by  Antoine  la  Mothe  Cadil- 
lac, in  July,  1701.  He  had  previously  been  in  command  of 
the  post  at  Mackinac,  and  in  his  voyages  up  and  down  the 
lakes  had  observed  the  strategic  value  of  the  place,  com- 
manding the  passage  between  Lakes  Erie  and  St.  Glair. 
Returning  to  France  in  1699,  he  laid  the  matter  before 
Count  Pontchartrain,  minister  for  the  Colonies,  who  author- 
ized him  to  erect  a  fort  on  the  strait.  It  was  built  on  the 
plain  adjoining  the  western  brink  of  the  river,  and  at  or 
near  the  site  of  the  older  fortlet  of  St.  Joseph,  erected  by 
Du  L'hut  in  1686.  It  was  named  by  Cadillac,  Fort  Pont- 
chartrain, but  it  early  assumed  the  name  of  Detroit,  which, 
in  French,  means  a  strait.  From  that  time  until  the  close 
of  the  Anglo-American  war  of  1812-14,  the  history  of  this 
post  is  one  of  marked  vicissitudes — of  sieges,  captures,  bat- 
tles, and  bloodshed.  As  the  fort  slowly  grew  into  a  village, 
with  a  fixed  population,  it  was  inclosed  with  a  quadrangular, 
wooden  stockade,  having  two  gates  as  the  only  entrances. 
At  the  beginning  of  the  English  possession,  the  French- 
Canadian  population  of  Detroit,  including  their  settlements 
along  the  river,  was  estimated  as  high  as  twenty-five  hun- 
dred persons,  but  the  number  soon  diminished.  The  fort, 
then  embracing  the  entire  town,  is  described  as  a  stout  pali- 
sade, twenty-five  feet  in  height,  furnished  with  bastions  at 
the  four  angles,  and  block-houses  over  the  two  gateways. 
A  short  distance  below  the  fort,  on  the  same  side  of  the 
strait,  stood  a  village  of  the  Pottawatomies.  To  the  south- 
east, on  the  opposite  bank,  was  that  of  the  Wyandots,  and 
five  miles  above  the  latter,  on  the  same  bank,  lay  the  vil- 
lage of  the  Ottawas.  The  river,  half  a  mile  in  width,  ran 
, through  a  landscape  of  singular  beauty,  and  in  its  pellucid 
waters  were  mirrored  the  outlines  of  the  stately  forest  trees 
that  stood  on  either  bank.  Back  from  the  full-flowing 
stream  rose  the  whitewashed  cottages  of  the  settlers,  while 
in  the  distance  were  clustered  the  Indian  wigwams,  from 
which  curling  columns  of  smoke  rose  high  into  the  pure 


French  Intrigues  Among  the  Indians.  345 

northern  atmosphere.  At  the  Isle  a  la  Peche,  near  the  out- 
let of  Lake  St.  Glair,  dwelt  Pontiac,  "the  master  spirit  of 
this  sylvan  paradise,  who,  like  Satan  of  old,  revolved  in  his 
powerful  mind  schemes  for  marring  its  beauty  and  inno- 
cence." Here,  according  to  Rogers'  journal,  he  lived  with 
his  squaws  and  children,  and  here,  no  doubt,  he  might  have 
been  often  seen  reclining  on  a  rush  mat,  like  any  ordinary 
Warrior. 

Directly  after  the  British  occupation  of  Detroit,  Major 
Rogers  sent  officers  to  take  possession  of  Forts  Miami  on 
the  Maumee,  and  Ouatanon  on  the  Wabash.  The  major 
himself  started  to  relieve  the  French  posts  on  the  upper 
lakes,  but  was  prevented  from  carrying  out  his  purpose  by 
the  early  approach  of  winter.  During  the  ensuing  spring 
of  1761,  however,  the  forts  on  the  Straits  of  Mackinac  and 
St.  Mary,  at  the  head  of  Green  Bay,  and  on  the  river  St. 
Joseph,  were  all  garrisoned  by  small  detachments  of  British 
troops.  But  the  flag  of  France  still  waved  over  the  posts 
in  Illinois  and  Louisiana,  which  had  not  been  included  in 
the  stipulations  of  the  surrender  at  Montreal. 

The  English  were  now  in  military  possession  of  the 
whole  of  Canada ;  yet  the  task  of  maintaining  their  author- 
ity in  this  vast  region  was  found  to  be  one  of  no  small  dif- 
ficulty, because  of  the  general  dissatisfaction  with  the  change 
of  rulers  pervading  its  inhabitants.  The  French  settlers, 
who  formed  the  ruling  element,  having  their  national  hatred 
intensified  by  years  of  warfare,  were  irreconcilable,  and  many 
of  the  more  discontented  left  their  Canadian  homes  and  re- 
moved to  Illinois  and  Louisiana,  which  still  belonged  to 
France.  Here  they  continued  to  cherish  their  animosity 
and  foment  resistance,  still  hoping  that  Canada  might  be 
again  restored  to  France.  Illinois  thus  became  a  place  of 
refuge  and  a  center  of  French  intrigues  against  the  British 
rule.  Canadian  traders  and  refugees  went  every-where 
among  the  north-western  tribes,  whose  good  will  they  had 
long  before  secured  by  a  conciliatory  policy,  and  incited 
them  to  take  up  arms  against  the  English,  who,  it  was  de- 
clared, were  seeking  to  compass  their  destruction  by  hedg- 
ing them  round  with  forts  and  settlements,  and  by  stirring 


346  Conspiracy  and  War  of  Pontiac. 

up  the  Cherokees  and  Chickasaws  to  attack  them.  To  give 
the  greater  efficacy  to  their  arguments,  the  French  traders 
liberally  distributed  among  the  Indian  chiefs  guns  and  am- 
munition, which  the  English  refused  to  do,  and  otherwise 
treated  them  as  inferiors.  It  should  be  observed  that  fire- 
arms, blankets,  and  other  articles  of  European  fabric  had 
been  so  long  supplied  by  the  French  to  the  western  Indians, 
that  they  were  now  become  a  necessity  to  the  existence  of 
the  latter. 

Under  these  altered  circumstances,  Pontiac,  who  still 
hated  the  British,  although  he  had  interfered  on  their  side 
so  far  as  to  permit  Major  Rogers  to  take  peaceable  posses- 
sion of  Detroit,  soon  began  to  show  his  old  partiality  for  the 
French.  He  was  now  some  fifty  years  of  age,  and  in  the 
full  prime  of  his  powers.  Pontiac  was  born  on  the  Ottawa 
River  about  the  year  1712,  and  was,  it  is  said,  the  son  of  an 
Ojibvva  or  Chippewa  woman.  It  has  been  claimed  that  he 
was  of  Sac  lineage,  but  he  belonged,  by  adoption  at  least, 
to  the  Ottawa  tribe.*  As  the  Ottawas  were  in  alliance  with 
the  Ojibwas  and  Pottawatomies,  he  became  in  time  the  prin- 
cipal chief  of  the  three  tribes.  In  1746  he  defended  the 
chief  post  of  Detroit  from  an  attack  of  some  discontented 
tribes  of  the  north,  and  in  1755  he  appears  to  have  com- 
manded a  band  of  Ottawa  warriors  at  General  Braddock's 
defeat.  During  the  war  between  France  and  England  he 
fought  valiantly  on  the  side  of  the  former,  and  for  his 
courage  and  devotion  was  presented  with  a  full  French 
uniform  by  the  Marquis  de  Montcalm,  only  a  short  time  be- 
fore the  fall  of  Quebec. 

After  the  final  defeat  of  the  French  and  the  surrender 
of  Canada,  Pontiac  at  first  manifested  a  disposition  to  cul- 
tivate the  friendship  of  the  conquerors,  but  was  disappointed 

*  Reynolds  says,  in  his  "  Pioneer  History,"  that  Pontiac  had  French 
blood  in  his  veins;  and  his  alleged  light  complexion  and  strong  bias 
toward  the  French  lend  credence  to  the  assertion.  The  traditional  de- 
scriptions of  this  Indian  chief  vary  in  regard  to  his  features  and  the 
color  of  his  skin,  but  all  concur  in  depicting  him  as  a  savage  of  sym- 
metrical and  noble  form,  of  proud  and  haughty  demeanor,  and  of  com- 
manding address. 


Planning  of  the  Conspiracy.  347 

in  the  advantages  he  expected  to  derive  from  their  favor. 
In  the  now  changed  state  of  affairs,,  his  sagacious  mind  dis- 
cerned the  danger  which  threatened  his  race.  The  equi- 
librium that  had  hitherto  subsisted  between  the  French 
and  English  gave  the  Indians  the  balance  of  power,  and 
both  parties  were  compelled  to  respect  their  rights  to  some 
extent.  But,  under  British  domination,  their  importance 
as  allies  was  gone,  and  their  doom  sealed,  unless  they  could 
restore  the  power  of  the  French  and  use  it  to  check  the  en- 
croachments of  the  English.  Inspired  with  this  idea,  as 
well  as  by  ambition  and  patriotism,  he  sent  trusty  mes- 
sengers to  the  nations  of  the  upper  lakes,  to  those  on  the 
Illinois,  the  Mississippi,  and  Ohio,  and  southward  to  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico.  In  the  autumn  of  1762  his  emissaries, 
bearing  the  red-stained  hatchet  and  war-belt  as  symbols  of 
their  mission,  passed  quickly  from  tribe  to  tribe,  and  every- 
where the  dusky  denizens  of  the  forest  assembled,  eager  to 
hear  the  fiery  message,  which  had  been  prepared  by  the 
leader  for  the  occasion.  The  attending  chiefs  and  warriors, 
moved  by  these  stirring  appeals,  pledged  themselves  to 
unite  in  the  league  and  war  against  the  common  enemy  of 
their  race.* 

Thus,  by  his  own  superior  energy,  activity,  and  ad- 
dress, Pontiac  became  the  acknowledged  head  and  front  of 
the  most  extensive  confederation  of  Algonquin  nations  ever 
before  known  in  Indian  history.  He  not  only  conceived 
the  great  scheme  of  uniting  all  these  nations  in  a  league  or 
conspiracy  against  the  English  colonists,  but  of  simulta- 
neously attacking  all  the  accessible  forts  of  the  latter,  and, 
after  butchering  their  garrisons,  to  turn  upon  the  defense- 
less settlements  and  continue  the  death-dealing  work  until 
the  entire  English  population  should  be  exterminated,  or 
driven  into  the  sea.  The  conspiracy  was  planned  or  ma- 
tured at  a  council  of  the  Ottawas,  Pottawatomies,  Chippe- 
was,  and  Hurons,  held  near  Detroit  about  April  27,  1763, 
when  Pontiac  made  a  speech  recounting  the  wrongs  and 
indignities  that  had  been  suffered  by  the  Indians,  and 


*See  Davidson  &  Stave's  Hist,  of  111.,  pp.  140,  141. 


348  Conspiracy  and  War  of  Pontiac. 

prophesied  their  extermination.  The  plot  was  well  laid, 
and  it  was  more  successfully  executed  than  might  have 
been  expected,  considering  the  limited  resources  of  the  na- 
tives, and  the  rankling  jealousies  and  enmities  $hat  pre- 
vailed among  the  different  tribes. 

Prior  to  this,  on  February  10,  1763,  was  signed  the 
treaty  of  Paris,  by  which  all  the  territorial  possessions  of 
France  east  of  the  Mississipi  were  ceded  to  Great  Britain. 
During  the  following  spring,  in  pursuance  of  this  act  of 
cession,  all  the  French  posts  in  Southern  Louisiana,  on 
the  east  side  of  the  Mississippi,  but  not  including  the 
district  of  New  Orleans,  were  occupied  by  English  gar- 
risons. The  immediate  occupation  of  Illinois,  however, 
was  not  deemed  practicable,  owing  to  the  strong  barrier  of 
hostile  Indians  surrounding  the  forts,  there,  and  the  French 
officers  then  in  command  were  therefore  authorized  by  Sir 
Jeffrey  Amherst,  the  British  commander-in-chief,  to  retain 
their  posts  until  formally  relieved.  In  the  exercise  of  this 
trust  they  seem  to  have  been  guilty  of  a  breach  of  faith, 
both  in  furnishing  the  Indians  with  arms  and  supplies,  and 
in  concealing  from  them  the  transfer  of  the  country  to  the 
English.*  But  for  this  misplaced  confidence,  or  want  of 
soldierly  foresight  on  the  part  of  General  Amherst,  the  war 
that  ensued  might  have  been  abbreviated,  and  thus  divested 
of  some  of  its  barbarities. 

According  to  the  plan  concerted  by  Pontiac  and  his 
council  of  war,  the  last  of  May  (1763)  was  designated  as 
the  time  for  the  general  uprising,  when  each  tribe  was  to 

*  "  It  now  appears  from  the  best  authorities  (says  a  Report  of  Sir 
William  Johnson,  Superintendent  of  Indian  Affairs,  to  the  Board  of 
Trade,  December  26, 1764),  and  can  be  proved  by  the  oaths  of  several  re- 
spectable persons,  prisoners  among  the  Indians  of  Illinois,  and  from  the 
accounts  of  the  Indians  themselves,  that  not  only  many  French  traders, 
but  also  French  officers,  went  among  the  Indians,  as  they  said,  fully 
authorized  to  assure  them  that  the  French  king  was  determined  to  sup- 
port them  to  the  utmost,  and  not  only  invited  them  to  visit  the  Illinois, 
where  they  were  plentifully  supplied  with  ammunition  and  other  neces- 
saries, but  also  sent  several  canoe  loads  at  different  times  up  the  Illi- 
nois River  to  the  Miamis,  as  well  as  up  the  Ohio  to  the  Shawanese  and 
Delawares." 


Pontiac' s  Siege  of  Detroit.  349 

attack  the  garrison  of  the  nearest  English  fort,  and  the  se- 
cret was  so  closely  kept  that  two-thirds  of  the  posts  at- 
tacked were  captured,  either  by  surprise  or  stratagem. 
The  taking  of  Detroit  was  to  be  the  preliminary  task  of 
Pontiac  himself,  and  the  date  of  its  execution  was  set  for 
the  7th  of  May.  He  accordingly  attempted,  with  a  band 
of  trained  warriors,  to  seize  that  post,  but  was  foiled  in  his 
design  by  the  vigilance  of  Major  Henry  Gladwin,  the  Eng- 
lish commandant,  who  had  received  information  of  the 
plot  the  day  before,  from  a  young  Chippewa  woman,  who 
had  formed  an  attachment  for  him  and  wished  to  save  his 
life.* 

The  assault  upon  Detroit  was  renewed  by  Pontiac, 
with  an  augmented  force,  on  the  12th  of  May,  but,  failing 
in  this,  he  turned  it  into  an  irregular  siege.  The  garrison, 
meantime,  obtained  food  from  the  neighboring  Canadian 
settlers,  who  likewise  supplied  the  Indians  in  turn.  In  con- 
sequence of  the  largely  increased  number  of  his  followers, 
Pontiac  found  it  necessary  to  make  regular  levies  on  the 
French  farmers  for  provisions,  arid  in  lieu  of  other  com- 
pensation, he  gave  them  his  promissory  notes,  scrawled  on 
pieces  of  birch  bark  and  signed  with  the  figure  of  an  otter, 
the  totem  of  his  family.  This  imitation  of  the  practices  of 
civilized  men  might  have  been  suggested  to  him  by  some 
of  the  farmers  themselves,  yet  it  is  related  to  his  credit  that 
•all  of  these  notes  were  afterward  paid. 

Supplies  and  reinforcements  were  sent  to  the  belea- 
guered fort  in  small  schooners,  by  way  of  Lake  Erie ;  but 
these  were  mostly  captured  by  the  Indians,  who  compelled 
their  prisoners  to  row  them  to  Detroit  in  hope  of  surpris- 
ing the  garrison.  At  length,  however,  the  garrison  was  re- 
inforced, and  thereupon  took  the  offensive.  On  the  31st 
of  July  the  English  attacked  Pontiac  at  his  camp  near  the 
mouth  of  a  little  stream  known  as  Bloody  Run ;  but  in  this 
engagement  the  assailants  were  defeated,  and  retreated  to 


*  It  may  be  hoped  that  no  iconoclast  will  arise,  as  in  the  case  of  Po- 
cahontas,  to  demolish  this  traditional  story  of  the  devoted  Chippewa 
maiden. 


350  Conspiracy  and  War  of  Pontiac. 

the  fort  with  a  loss  of  fifty-nine  men  in  killed  and  wounded. 
The  siege  of  Detroit  was  maintained  in  a  desultory  manner 
until  about  the  10th  of  October,  when  the  ammunition  of 
the  natives  fell  short,  and  they  became  discouraged. 

Although  failing  in  all  their  efforts  to  capture  this 
coveted  post,  the  Indians  were  more  successful  elsewhere. 
It  is  true  that  Forts  Pitt  and  Niagara,  which  they  also  at- 
tacked, proved  too  strong  for  their  destruction;  but  be- 
tween the  first  and  twentieth  of  June,  they  took  Fort  Ve- 
nango,  LeBoeuf,  Presque  Isle,  Sandusky,  Miami  (on  the 
Maumee),  St.  Joseph,*  Mackinac  and  LeBaye,f  and  either 
murdered  or  made  prisoners  of  their  respective  garrisons, 
only  a  few  effecting  their  escape.  The  destruction  of  life 
and  property  at  these  widely  separated  posts  was  but  the 
prelude  to  a  general  Indian  war,  which  carried  terror  and 
desolation  into  many  of  the  fairest  and  most  fertile  valleys 
of  Virginia,  Pennsylvania  and  New  York. 

General  Amherst  had  now  become  aware  that  the  oc- 
cupation of  the  Illinois  forts  by  French  garrisons  was  con- 
tributing to  prolong  and  intensify  the  contest,  arid  he  would 
gladly  have  displaced  them  at  once,  but  still  found  it  im- 
practicable to  break  through  the  cordon  of  hostile  tribes 
by  which  they  were  environed.  His  only  expedient,  there- 
fore, was  to  write  to  Neyon  de  Villiers  at  Fort  Chartres, 
instructing  him  to  make  known  to  the  Indian  chiefs  and 
warriors  their  altered  relations  under  the  treaty  of  cession/ 
That  French  officer,  being  thus  compelled  to  divulge  what 
he  had  long  concealed,  reluctantly  wrote  to  Pontiac,  saying, 
"  that  he  must  not  expect  any  assistance  from  the  French ; 
that  they  and  the  English  were  now  at  peace  and  regarded 
each  other  as  brothers,  and  that  the  Indians  should  aban- 
don their  hostilities,  which  could  lead  to  no  good  result." £ 


*On  Lake  Michigan,  formerly  called  Ft.  Miami. 

t  At  the  head  of  Green  Bay. 

t  At  or  before  that  time  De  Villiers  wrote  to  D'Abbadie,  at  New  Or- 
leans, that  it  was  the  fault  of  the  English  if  the  Indians  manifested 
such  enmity  to  them.  "The  English,"  said  he,  "as  soon  as  they  be- 
came aware  of  the  advantages  secured  to  them  by  the  treaty  of  cession, 
kept  no  measures  with  the  Indians,  whom  they  treated  with  harshness 


Expeditions  of  Colonels  Bouquet  and  Bradstreet.      351 

This  letter  was  a  grievous  disappointment  to  Pontiac,  who 
relied  for  ultimate  success  upon  the  continued  support  of 
the  French,  and  it  proved  the  entering  wedge  toward  the 
breaking  up  of  his  prodigious  power  and  influence.  Shortly 
after  its  reception,  he  departed  from  Detroit,  with  a  num- 
ber of  his  followers,  and  went  southward  to  the  country  of 
the  Maumee,  intending  to  return  and  renew  the  contest  the 
next  spring. 

The  winter  of  1763-4  passed  without  any  very  note- 
worthy occurrence.  -  In  the  early  summer  of  1764,  the  En- 
glish authorities  fitted  out  two  considerable  expeditions;  one 
to  operate  against  the  savages  in  the  central  lake  region,  and 
the  other  for  the  punishment  of  those  in  the  Valley  of  the 
Ohio.  The  command  of  the  latter  column  was  entrusted  to 
Colonel  (afterward  General)  Henry  Bouquet,  who  marched 
from  Fort  Pitt,  and,  encountering  the  warlike  Delawares 
and  Shawnees  on  the  banks  of  the  Muskingham,  soon  de- 
feated and  reduced  them  to  submission.  This  efficient  of- 
ficer required  these  Indians  to  surrender  all  of  their  white 
prisoners.  In  compliance  with  his  demand,  they  reluctantly 
brought  into  camp  a  large  number,  principally  women  and 
children,  some  of  whom  had  been  captured  during  the  early 
part  of  the  French  war,  and  had  been  in  captivity  so  long 
as  to  have  almost  forgotten  their  native  tongue  and  the 
homes  of  their  childhood  or  youth. 

Colonel  Bradstreet,  who  commanded  the  other  expe- 
dition, proceeding  up  the  southern  shore  of  Lake  Erie, 
wrested  Sandusky  from  the  hands  of  the  hostile  Indians 
and  reinforced  Detroit.  He  then  sent  Captain  Thomas 
Morris,  with  some  Canadians  and  friendly  Indians,  to  in- 
duce the  Illinois  and  their  allies  to  make  peace  with  the 
English.  The  captain  and  his  party  ascended  the  Maumee 
River  to  the  vicinity  of  Pontiac's  camp,  and  thence  went  as 
far  as  Fort  Miami,  which  had  been  captured  by  the  Indians 
in  the  preceding  year.  -But,  after  experiencing  great  hard- 
ships, and  being  subjected  to  gross  indignities  by  the  Miamis 

and  the  haughtiness  of  masters,  and  whose  faults  they  punished  by 
crucifixion,  hanging,  and  every  sort  of  torment." — Gayarre's  Hist,  of 
La.,  Vol.  II.,  p.  98. 


352  Conspiracy  and  War  of  Pontiac. 

and  Kickapoos,  Morris  was  glad  to  escape  from  their  grasp 
with  his  life,  and  returned  to  Detroit  without  having  ef- 
fected the  object  of  his  perilous  journey.* 

Previously  to  this,  in  the  early  part  of  February,  1764, 
Major  Arthur  Loftus,  then  doing  duty  with  the  22d  regiment 
at  Pensacola,  Florida,f  was  ordered  to  proceed  to  the  Illinois 
and  take  military  possession  of  the  posts  there.  He  accord- 
ingly sailed  from  Pensacola  with  four  hundred  men  for  that 
purpose,  but  on  his  arrival  in  New  Orleans  some  of  them  de- 
serted him.  On  the  27th  of  February  he  re-embarked  his 
troops,  with  thirty-seven  women  and  children,  in  ten  heavy 
boats  and  two  pirogues,  and  started  up  the  Mississippi.  Ad- 
vancing slowly,  he  reached  Davion's  Bluff,  near  Tunica 
Bend,  on  the  19th  of  March,  when  he  was  fired  upon  by  a 
party  of  Tunica  Indians,  who  had  ambushed  both  sides  of  the 
river.  They  killed  six  and  wounded  seven  of  the  English 
soldiers,  and  thus  stayed  the  farther  progress  of  the  expe- 
dition. The  suspicion  was  strong  among  the  English  that 
the  French,  at  Pointe  Coupee,  had  aided  the  Tunicas  with 
their  slaves  in  this  murderous  attack.  Returning  to  New 
Orleans  in  a  rage,  Major  Loftus  accused  Governor  D'Abbadie 
of  complicity  with  the  Indians ;  but  it  does  not  appear  that 
the  governor  was  in  any  way  responsible  for  the  unfortunate 
occurrence.  On  the  contrary,  he  had  furnished  the  British 
officer  with  an  interpreter,  and  had  sent  orders  to  the  com- 
mandants of  the  French  posts  on  the  river  to  afford  him 
needed  aid  and  protection,  and,  in  fine,  had  done  all  in  his 
power  to  insure  the  success  of  his  expedition.  The  truth 
is,  that  Loftus  himself  was  partly  to  blame  for  his  failure, 
since  he  took  little  pains  to  conciliate  either  the  French  or 
Indians.]: 

Soon  after  this  abortive  effort  to  reach  Fort  Chartres, 


*  In  a  letter  written  during  this  adventurous  trip,  dated  La  Prairie 
des  Mascoutins,  September  2,  1764,  and  addressed  to  Colonel  Bradstreetj 
at  Detroit,  Captain  Morris  suggestively  says:  "I  am  certain,  sir,  that  a 
few  presents  to  the  chiefs  would  have  a  good  effect.  Kind  treatment 
will  infallibly  open  a  way  to  the  Illinois  country." 

T  In  the  treaty  of  Paris,  Florida  had  been  given  by  Spain  to  Eng, 
lane  in  exchange  for  Havana. 

t  See  Gayerr^'s  History  of  Louisiana,  Vol.  II.,  pp.  102,  103. 


Crogharfs  Mission  of  Conciliation.  353 

Captain  Pittman  started  from  Mobile  to  make  a  second  at- 
tempt, but  on  his  arrival  in  New  Orleans  he  was  deterred 
from  proceeding  farther,  owing  to  the  excited  state  of  feel- 
ing among  the  Indians  along  the  Mississippi.  During  the 
ensuing  summer,  Major  Robert  Farmer  was  dispatched 
from  Mobile,  with  a  part  of  the  34th  regiment  of  foot, 
upon  the  same  mission,  yet  he  did  not  advance  far  before 
he  was  stopped  by  the  hostile  savages.  It  was  not,  indeed, 
until  the  first  week  in  December,  1765,  and  after  the  final 
surrender  of  Fort  Chartres,  that  he  arrived  with  his  force  in 
the  Illinois. 

Such  was  the  continued  great  influence  of  Pontiac,  and 
such  the  strength  of  the  combination  he  had  formed  among 
the  aboriginal  tribes  of  the  Mississippi  Valley,  that  General 
Gage  (who  had  succeeded  Sir  Jeffrey  Amherst  as  com- 
mander-in-chief  of  his  Britannic  Majesty's  forces  in  North 
America)  now  became  convinced  that  it  would  be  impos- 
sible to  eradicate  from  the  minds  of  the  Indians  the  idea 
of  French  assistance,  so  long  as  the  forts  in  Illinois  re- 
mained in  the  hands  of  French  officers.  He  therefore  un- 
dertook to  put  a  period  to  this  tedious  and  humiliating  war, 
by  removing  the  principal  cause  of  its  continuance.  After 
the  failure  of  the  attempts  of  Majors  Loftus  and  Farmer,  it 
was  determined  to  send  troops  to  the  Illinois  by  way  of  the 
.Ohio  River.  To  facilitate  this  design,  Colonel  George  Cro- 
ghan,  a  deputy  of  the  Superintendent  of  Indian  Affairs,  and 
an  experienced  trader  among  the  western  Indians,  together 
with  Lieutenant  Alexander  Fraser,  of  the  English  army, 
were  sent  out  in  advance,  to  prepare  the  savages  by  ne- 
gotiation for  the  advent  of  the  projected  military  expedi- 
tion. They  started  from  Philadelphia  in  February,  1765, 
attended  by  a  small  mounted  escort,  and  carried  with  them 
an  ample  assortment  of  goods  for  use  as  presents  in  con- 
ciliating the  natives.  After  a  difficult  and  fatiguing  jour- 
ney over  the  mountains,  obstructed  with  snow  and  ice,  they 
reached  Fort  Pitt  (now  Pittsburg)  in  March,  but  had  the 
ill-luck  to  loose  the  larger  part  of  their  goods  at  the  hands 
of  the  "freebooting  borderers"  of  Pennsylvania.  Colonel 
23 


354  Conspiracy  and  War  of  Pontiac. 

Croghan  tarried  at  Fort  Pitt  a  number  of  weeks,  in  order  to 
complete  his  preparations,  and  to  confer  with  the  sachems 
of  the  Delawares  and  Shawnees,  along  whose  southern 
borders  the  armed  expedition  would  have  to  pass. 

Meanwhile,  to  expedite  the  main  business  of  the  mis- 
sion, Lieutenant  Fraser,  with  more  boldness  than  discretion, 
embarked  in  a  canoe,  with  a  trader  named  Sinnott,  and  de- 
scended the  Ohio  and  ascended  the  Mississippi  to  Kaskaskia. 
Arrived  thither  in  the  forepart  of  May,  he  experienced  very 
rough  treatment  from  the  Illinois  Indians.  He  was  buffeted 
and  his  life  threatened,  and  finding  his  position  neither 
agreeable  nor  safe,  he  fled  in  disguise  down  the  Mississippi 
River  to  New  Orleans. 

Pontiac  was  then  encamped  in  the  vicinity  of  Fort 
Chartres,  whither  he  had  come  some  time  before,  with  a 
train  of  four  hundred  warriors,  to  demand  arms  and  am- 
munition of  the  French  for  the  further  prosecution  of  his 
war  against  the  English.  About  the  18th  of  April,  on  be- 
ing received  into  the  fortress  and  presented  to  St.  Ange, 
the  commandant,  he  addressed  him  in  the  following  ele- 
vated strain : 

"  Father,  we  have  long  desired  to  see  you  and  enjoy 
the  pleasure  of  taking  you  by  the  hand.  While  we  refresh 
ourselves  with  the  soothing  incense  of  the  friendly  calumet, 
we  will  recall  the  battles  fought  by  our  warriors  against  the' 
enemy,  which  still  seeks  our  overthrow.  But  while  we 
speak  of  their  valor  and  victories,  let  us  not  forget  our 
fallen  heroes,  and  with  renewed  resolves  and  more  constant 
endeavors,  strive  to  avenge  their  deaths  by  the  downfall  of 
our  enemies. 

"  Father,  I  love  the  French,  and  have  led  hither  my 
braves  to  maintain  your  authority  and  vindicate  the  in- 
sulted honor  of  France.  But  you  must  not  longer  remain 
inactive,  and  suffer  your  red  brothers  to  contend  alone 
against  the  foe  who  seek  our  common  destruction.  We 
demand  of  you  arms  and  warriors  to  assist  us,  and  when 
the  English  dogs  are  driven  into  the  sea,  we  will  again  in 
peace  and  happiness  enjoy  with  you  these  fruitful  forests 


Croghan's  Party  Attacked  by  Indians.  355 

and  prairies,  the  noble  heritage  presented  by  the  Great 
Spirit  to  our  ancestors." 

St.  Ange  was  constrained  by  circumstances  to  decline 
giving  the  expected  aid ;  but  he  accompanied  his  refusal 
with  soothing  compliments,  and  added  a  few  gifts  to  ap- 
pease Pontiac's  bitter  disappointment. 

But  to  return  to  Colonel  Croghan.  On  the  15th  of 
May,  1765,  having  completed  his  conferences  with  the  tribes 
about  Fort  Pitt,  he  started  down  the  Ohio  with  two  bateaux, 
or  long  boats,  and  a  small  party  of  white  men.  Early  the 
next  day  he  was  joined  at  Chartier  s  Island  by  several  depu- 
ties of  the  Senecas,  Shawnees,  and  Delawares,  whom  he  had 
persuaded  to  accompany  him.  Proceeding  on  his  way,  with 
occasional  short  stoppages  for  refreshment,  Croghan  arrived 
the  first  of  June  at  the  head  of  the  Falls  of  the  Ohio,  where  he 
landed  and  encamped  for  the  night.  On  the  following  morn- 
ing his  party  passed  the  Falls  or  rapids ;  but  as  the  river  was 
quite  low  at  the  time,  they  had  to  lighten  their  boats  in  order 
to  get  safely  through  the  channel  on  the  Indiana  side.  Con- 
tinuing their  expeditious  voyage,  they  reached  the  mouth 
of  the  Wabash  on  the  6th,  and  found  there  a  rude  breast- 
work, supposed  to  have  been  erected  by  the  Indians.  Six 
miles  below  the  Wabash,  they  put  to  shore  and  encamped 
at  a  place  known  as  the  "  Old  Shawnee  Village,"  some  little 
distance  above  the  present  Shawneetown.*  From  this  land- 
ing place  Croghan  dispatched  two  of  his  Indians  across  the 
country  to  Fort  Chartres,  with  letters  to  Lieutenant  Frazer, 
who  was  supposed  to  be  still  at  that  post,  and  to  Captain 
St.  Ange  de  Bellerive. 

At  day-break,  on  the  8th  of  June,  while  yet  in  camp, 
on  the  site  of  the  old  Indian  village,  Croghan's  party  was 
suddenly  surrounded  and  fired  upon  by  a  band  of  eighty 
Kickapoo  and  Mascoutin  warriors,  who  had  been  watching 
his  movements  for  several  days.  They  killed  five  of  his 
company,  two  white  men  and  three  Delaware  Indians,  and 

*The  time  occupied  in  this  downward  trip  from  Fort  Pitt  was 
twenty-one  days,  and  the  distance  traveled,  eight  hundred  miles,  by 
the  sinuosities  of  the  river.  It  will  thus  be  seen  that  they  moved  with 
unusual  celerity,  averaging  about  forty  miles  per  day. 


356  Conspiracy  and  War  of  Pontiac. 

wounded  several  others,  including  the  leader  himself;  then 
made  him  and  the  rest  of  the  whites  prisoners,  and  pro- 
ceeded to  despoil  them  of  every  thing  they  had.  The  ex- 
cuse afterward  given  by  the  assailants  for  this  unprovoked 
and  murderous  attack  was,  that  they  had  been  told  that 
Croghan  was  coming  into  their  country  with  an  armed  es- 
cort of  Cherokees,  their  mortal  enemies.  But  a  better 
reason  was  to  be  found  in  their  instinctive  love  of  blood 
and  plunder.  Having  quickly  divided  the  spoils  of  Colonel 
Croghan's  camp,  the  Kickapoos  and  Mascoutins,*  fearing 
the  arrival  of  another  marauding  party,  whom  they  sus- 
pected to  be  on  their  trail,  left  such  heavy  articles  as  they 
.  could  not  carry  away,  and  set  off  in  haste,  with  their  prison- 
ers, for  their  villages  on  the  Upper  Wabash.  Their  course 
lay  on  and  through  the  heavily  wooded  river  bottom,  which 
was  so  intersected  by  morasses  and  beaver  ponds,  as  to 
render  traveling  slow  and  laborious. 

On  the  15th  they  reached  Post  Vincennes,  where  a 
halt  was  made  of  two  days  for  rest  and  refreshment. 
Here  Croghan  had  some  new  apparel  made  for  himself  and 
men,  and  purchased  a  few  horses  of  the  Piankashaw  Indi- 
ans, promising  them  payment  when  he  should  reach  De- 
troit. In  his  printed  journal  he  gives  but  a  poor  character 
to  the  French  at  Vincennes,  whom  he  describes  as  a  "  lazy 
people,  a  parcel  of  renegades  from  Canada,  and  much  worse 
than  the  Indians."  He  further  says :  "  They  took  a  secret 
pleasure  at  our  misfortune,  and  the  moment  we  arrived 
they  came  to  the  Indians,  exchanging  trifles  for  our  valua- 
ble plunder."  But  Croghan  was  hardly  in  a  frame  of  mind 
to  do  those  French  settlers  justice,  for  they  refused  him 
permission  to  write  to  any  one  but  the  commandant  at  Fort 
Chartres.f 

Arriving  at  Fort  Ouatanon  on  the  23d  of  June,  he 
was  set  at  liberty,  and  took  up  his  temporary  quarters 
there,  where  he  found  a  number  of  French  families  living. 

*  Called  •'  Musquatimee  "  by  Croghan. 

t  Journal  of  George  Crogban,  "who  was  sent  in  1765  to  conciliate 
the  Indian  nations  that  had  hitherto  acted  with  the  French."  Burling- 
ton (N.  J.)  reprint,  1831 ;  small  4to,  pp.  38. 


Groghan  Meets  Pontiac.  357 

This  palisaded  fort,  as  he  informs  us,  was  located  on  the 
north  side  of  the  Wabash,  about  two  hundred  and  ten 
miles  above  Post  Vincent,  by  the  windings  of  the  river.  It 
derived  its  name  from  a  tribe  of  Weas,  or  Ouiatanons,  whose 
principal  village  stood  on  the  south  bank  of  the  Wabash, 
a  few  miles  below  the  site  of  what  is  now  Lafayette,  In- 
diana. The  fort  was  maintained  as  a  trading  post  with  the 
Indians  until  June,  1791,  when  it  was  destroyed  by  an 
American  force,  under  the  command  of  General  Charles 
Scott,  of  Kentucky. 

During  Croghan's  stay  here,  a  messenger  arrived  with 
a  letter  from  Captain  St.  Ange,  inviting  him  to  visit  Fort 
Chartres  and  arrange  matters  for  the  withdrawal  of  the 
French  garrison  from  that  place.  As  this  request  coincided 
with  his  own  previous  intentions,  he  set  out  with  an  Indian 
escort,  on  a  journey  thither  across  the  prairies,  but  had  not 
traveled  far  before  he  was  met  by  Pontiac  and  a  numerous 
retinue  of  his  dusky  warriors,  on  their  return  from  the  Il- 
linois. This  astute  chief,  perceiving  at  last  that  the  great 
confederation  he  had  formed  among  the  Indian  nations  in 
the  west  was  falling  to  pieces,  and  that  he  had  nothing 
more  to  hope  for  from  the  French,  was  coming  to  make 
terms  with  the  accredited  agent  of  the  English ;  and  for 
the  purpose  of  further  conference  oh  the  subject  they  now 
returned  together  to  Fort  Ouatanon.  Having  hastily  con- 
vened the  neighboring  chiefs  and  braves  in  council,  Pontiac 
produced  the  calumet  of  peace,  and  made  a  plausible  speech 
to  them.  He  declared,  among  other  things,  that  the  French 
had  misled  him  with  the  story  that  the  English  purposed 
to  stir  up  the  Cherokees  against  his  brethren  of  the  Illinois, 
to  conquer  and  enslave  them.  He  allowed  that  the  Eng- 
lish might  take  possession  of  Fort  Chartres  and  the  other 
posts  in  the  Illinois,  but  suggested  that  as  the  French 
settlers  had  never  bought  their  lands  of  the  Indians,  and 
lived  on  them  by  sufferance  only,  their  successors  would 
have  no  legal  right  of  possession.  The  amicable  disposi- 
tion shown  by  such  of  the  Illinois  warriors  as  were  pres- 
ent at  this  council,  with  other  sufficient  reasons,  induced 


358  Conspiracy  and  War  of  Pontiac. 

Croghan  to  forego  his  intended  trip  to  Fort  Chartres,  and 
to  turn  his  attention  to  the  tribes  on  the  north-east. 

Having  adjusted  matters  satisfactorily  with  the  natives 
at  and  about  Fort  Ouatanon,  he  departed  thence  on  the 
25th  of  July,  being  accompanied  by  Pontiac  and  a  number 
of  his  followers.  Proceeding  on  horseback  up  the  Valley 
of  the  Wabash  to  the  portage  between  that  river  and  the 
Maumee,  Croghan  stopped  to  visit  a  small  village  of  the 
Twightees  near  Fort  Miami.  He  thence  continued  his 
journey  to  the  main  Twightee  village,  situated  on  the  St. 
Joseph's  River,*  which  unites  with  the  St.  Mary  to  form 
the  Maumee,  or  Miami,  as  it  wras  called  by  him.  Arrived 
thither,  he  met  a  friendly  reception  from  the  Twightee 
chiefs,  and,  after  completing  his  conference  with  them,  set 
out  on  the  6th  of  August  for  Detroit,  descending  the  Mau- 
mee in  a  canoe  to  Lake  Erie.  On  the  17th  he  landed  at 
the  battle-scarred  post  of  Detroit,  which  he  incidentally  de- 
scribes in  his  journal,  as  a  "large  stockade,  inclosing  about 
eighty  houses."  During  his  stay  here,  he  held  frequent 
consultations  with  the  chiefs  of  the  Chippewas,  Wyandots, 
Pottawatomies,and  other  congregated  tribes,  from  whom  the 
fear  of  condign  punishment,  and  the  privations  they  had  en- 
dured in  consequence  of  the  long  suspension  of  the  fur- 
trade,  had  driven  all  thoughts  of  further  hostility.  They 
had  had  enough  of  war  to  curb  their  restless  spirit  for  the 
time  at  least,  and  were  anxious  to  make  terms  with  the 
English  authorities.  At  a  general  meeting  of  the  sachems 
and  warriors,  convened  in  the  Council  Hall  on  the  27th  of 
August,  Croghan  was  present,  and  in  imitation,  or  rather 
exaggeration,  of  that  figurative  forest  eloquence  with  which 
he  had  become  so  familiar,  thus  addressed  the  convocation : 

CHILDREN, — We  are  very  glad  to  see  so  many  of  you 
present  at  your  ancient  council  fire,  which  has  been  neg- 
lected for  some  time  past.  Since  then  high  winds  have 
blown,  and  raised  heavy  clouds  over  your  country.  .  I  now, 
by  this  belt  (of  wampum),  rekindle  your  ancient  fire  and 

*  The  above  mentioned  river  St.  Joseph  should  not  be  confused 
with  another  and  larger  stream  of  the  same  name,  which  flows  west- 
ward into  Lake  Michigan. 


Peace  Speeches  by  Oroghan  and  Pontiac.  359 

throw  dry  wood  upon  it,  that  the  blaze  may  ascend  to 
heaven,  so  that  all  nations  may  see  it  and  know  that  you 
live  in  peace  with  your  fathers,  the  English.  By  this  belt 
I  disperse  all  the  black  clouds  over  your  heads,  that  the  sun 
may  shine  clear  upon  your  women  and  children,  and  those 
unborn  may  enjoy  the  blessings  of  this  general  peace,  now 
so  happily  settled  between  your  fathers,  the  English,  and 
you,  and  all  your  younger  brethren  toward  the  sunsetting. 

"  Children,  we  have  made  a  road  from  the  sunrising  to 
the  sunsetting.  I  desire  that  you  will  preserve  that  road, 
good  and  pleasant  to  travel  upon,  that  we  may  all  share  'the 
blessings  of  this  happy  reunion." 

The  council  reassembled  the  next  day,  when  Pontiac, 
in  behalf  of  his  people,  replied  to  Croghan's  address  as 
follows : 

"  Father,  we  have  all  smoked  out  of  this  pipe  of  peace. 
It  is  your  children's  pipe;  and  as  the  war  is  all  over  now, 
and  the  Great  Spirit,*  who  has  made  the  earth  and  every 
thing  therein,  has  brought  us  all  together  this  day  for  our 
mutual  good,  I  declare  to  all  the  nations  that  I  have  settled 
my  peace  with  you  before  I  came  here,  and  now  deliver  my 
pipe  to  be  sent  to  Sir  William  Johnson,  that  he  may  know 
I  have  made  peace  and  taken  the  King  of  England  for  my 
father,  in  presence  of  all  nations  now  assembled;  and  when- 
ever any  of  these  nations  go  to  visit  him,  they  may  smoke 
out  of  it  with  him  in  peace. 

"  Fathers,  we  are  obliged  to  you  for  lighting  up  our 
old  council  fire  for  us,  and  desiring  us  to  return  to  it,  but 
we  (the  Ottawas)  are  now  settled  on  the  Maumee  River  not 
far  from  hence ;  whenever  you  want  us,  you  will  find  us 
there.  Our  people  love  liquor,  and  if  we  dwelt  near  you 
in  our  old  village,  our  warriors  would  be  always  drunk,  and 
quarrels  would  arise  between  us  and  you."  f 

*  Pontiac  probably  derived  his  correct  notions  of  the  Great  Spirit 
mainly  from  association  with  white  men ;  and  there  is  no  doubt  but 
that  his  speeches  were  revised  and  improved  somewhat  by  the  English 
scribes. 

t  Vide  "  History  of  the  Conspiracy  of  Pontiac,"  by  Francis  Park- 
man,  Boston,  1868;  4th  edition,  pp.  555,  556. 


360  Conspiracy  and  War  of  Pontiac. 

The  conciliatory  mission  of  Colonel  Croghan  being  at 
last  brought  to  a  happy  fruition,  he  started  on  his  return  to 
the  East  toward  the  close  of  September,  going  first  to  Fort 
Niagara,  and  thence  to  report  to  the  commander-in-chief. 
Before  quitting  Detroit,  however,  he  had  exacted  from 
Pontiac  a  promise  to  repair  to  Oswego,  New  York,  and 
enter  into  a  treaty  of  peace  and  amity  with  Sir  William 
Johnson,  the  Indian  Superintendent,  on  behalf  of  those 
western  tribes  with  whom  he  had  been  leagued  in  the  late 
war.  In  fulfillment  of  his  promise,  the  veteran  chief  pro- 
ceeded, with  a  few  attendants,  to  Oswego  in  the  early  sum- 
mer of  the  next  year  (1766),  and  there,  in  presence  of  a 
large  gathering  of  whites  and  Indians,  he  thus  addressed 
the  representative  of  the  British  crown :  "  Father,  we  thank 
the  Great  Spirit,  who  has  given  us  this  day  of  bright  skies 
and  genial  warmth  to  consider  the  great  affairs  now  before 
us.  In  his  presence,  and  in  behalf  of  all  the  nations 
toward  the  sunsetting,  of  which  I  am  the  master,  I  now 
take  you  by  the  hand.  I  call  upon  him  to  witness  that  I 
have  spoken  from  my  heart,  and,  in  the  name  of  the  tribes 
which  I  represent,  I  promise  to  keep  this  covenant  as  long 
as  I  live." 

After  the  execution  of  the  treaty  at  Oswego,  Pontiac 
returned  to  his  home,  on  the  banks  of  the  Maumee  River, 
and  for  the  ensuing  three  years  buried  his  ambition  and 
disappointment  in  the  seclusion  of  its  somber  forests,  pro- 
viding, as  a  common  hunter,  for  the  wants  of  his  family 
and  dependents. 

In  the  meantime  Captain  Thomas  Stirling,  following 
upon  the  mission  of  Croghan,  embarked  in  boats  at  Fort 
Pitt,  with  one  hundred  veteran  Highlanders,  of  the  42d 
English  regiment,  and  descended  the  Ohio  to  its  mouth. 
Pushing  thence  up  the  Mississippi,  he  arrived  at  Fort  Char- 
tres  in  the  early  part  of  October,  1765,  and  on  or  about 
the  10th  of  that  month  took  military  possession  of  the 
fortress.  "  The  flag  of  France  descended  from  the  ram- 
part, and,  with  the,  stern  courtesies  of  war,  St.  Ange 
yielded  up  his  post,  the  citadel  of  Illinois.  In  that  act  was 
consummated  the  double  triumph  of  British  power  in 


General  Gage's  Proclamation.  361 

in  America.  England  had  crushed  her  hereditary  foe ; 
France,  in  her  fall,  had  left  to  irretrievable  ruin  the  savage 
tribes  to  whom  her  policy  and  self-interest  had  lent  a 
transient  support."* 

On  assuming  command  of  the  fort  and  country,  Cap- 
tain Stirling  caused  to  be  posted  and  published  the  follow- 
ing proclamation,  which  had  been  carefully  prepared  some 
months  in  advance,  and  was  intended  as  a  kind  of  consti- 
tution of  government  for  the  Illinois  : 

"By  his  Excellency.  Thomas  Gage,  Major-General  of  the  King's 
armies,  Colonel  of  the  22d  Regiment,  General,  commanding  in  chief  of 
the  forces  of  His  Majesty  in  North  America,  etc. 

"  Whereas,  by  the  peace  concluded  at  Paris,  on  the  10th  of  Febru- 
ary, 1763,  the  country  of  the  Illinois  has  been  ceded  to  His  Britannic 
Majesty,  and  the  taking  possession  of  the  said  country  of  the  Illinois 
by  troops  of  His  Majesty,  though  delayed,  has  been  determined  upon, 
we  have  found  it  good  to  make  known  to  the  inhabitants, 

•'That  His  Majesty  grants  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  Illinois  the  lib- 
erty of  the  Catholic  religion,  as  it  has  already  been  granted  to  his  sub- 
jects in  Canada;  he  has,  consequently,  given  the  most  precise  and  effect- 
ive orders,  to  the  end  that  his  new  Roman  Catholic  subjects  of  the  Illi- 
nois may  exercise  the  worship  of  their  religion,  according  to  the  rites 
of  the  Roman  Church,  in  the  same  manner  as  in  Canada; 

"  That  His  Majesty,  moreover,  agrees  that  the  French  inhabitants 
or  others,  who  have  been  subjects  of  the  Most  Christian  King,  may  retire 
in  full  safety  and  freedom,  wherever  they  please,  even  to  New  Orleans,  or 


*Parkman's  "  Conspiracy  of  Pontiac,"  p.  559. 

[FRENCH  COMMANDANTS  AT  ILLINOIS.] 

Note.— By  way  of  recapitulation,  we  here  present  a  list  of  the  suc- 
cessive French  commandants  at  the  dependency  of  the  Illinois,  with 
the  years,  as  near  as  may  be,  of  their  respective  service,  beginning  with 
Boisbriant : 

Pierre  Duqu6  de  Boisbriant 1718-1725 

Captain  de  TisnS  (temporarily)        .  .        .        1725-1726 

The  Sieur  de  Liette 1726-1730 

X,ouis  St.  Ange  de  Bellerive 1730-1734 

Pierre  d'Artaguette 1734-1736 

Alphonse  de  la  Buissoniere      .        .        .     .  -.        .        1736-1740 

Benoist  de  St.  Clair ;    1740-1743 

The  Chevalier  de  Bertel 1743-1749 

St.  Clair,  again .     1749-1751 

The  Chevalier  de  Macarty 1751-1760 

M.  Neyon  de  Villiers    .....'...     1760-1764 
-     St.  Ange,  again 1764-1765 


362  Conspiracy  and  War  of  Pontiac. 

any  other  part  of  Louisiana,  although  it  should  happen  that  the  Span- 
iards take  possession  of  it  in  the  name  of  His  Catholic  Majesty ;  and 
may  sell  their  estates,  provided  it  be  to  subjects  of  His  Majesty,  and 
transport  their  effects,  as  well  as  persons,  without  restraint  upon  their 
emigration,  under  any  pretense  whatever,  except  in  consequence  of 
debts  or  criminal  process ; 

"  That  those  who  choose  to  retain  their  lands,  and  become  subjects 
of  His  Majesty,  shall  enjoy  the  same  security  for  their  persons  and  effects, 
and  liberty  of  trade,  as  the  old  subjects  of  the  king; 

"That  they  are  commanded,  by  these  presents,  to  take  the  oath  of 
fidelity  and  obedience  to  His  Majesty,  in  presence  of  Sieur  Stirling, 
Captain  of  the  Highland  Regiment,  the  bearer  hereof,  and  furnished 
with  onr  full  powers  for  this  purpose  ; 

"  That  we  recommend,  forcibly,  to  the  inhabitants,  to  conduct  them- 
selves like  good  and  faithful  subjects,  avoiding  by  a  wise  and  prudent 
demeanor  all  cause  of  complaint  against  them ; 

"  That  they  act  in  concert  with  His  Majesty's  officers,  so  that  his 
troops  may  take  peaceable  possession  of  all  the  posts,  and  order  be  kept 
in  the  country;  by  this  means  alone  they  will  spare  His  Majesty  the  ne- 
cessity of  recurring  to  force  of  arms,  and  will  find  themselves  saved  from 
the  scourge  of  a  bloody  war,  and  of  all  the  evils  which  the  march  of  an 
army  into  their  country  would  draw  after  it. 

"  We  direct  that  these  presents  be  read,  published,  and  posted  up 
in  the  usual  places. 

"Done  and  given  at  head-quarters,  New  York.  Signed  with  our 
hand,  sealed  with  our  seal-at-arms,  and  countersigned  by  our  Secretary, 
this  30th  of  December,  A.  D.  1764.* 

"  By  His  Excellency,  THOMAS  GAGE,  [SEAL.] 

"  G.  MARTURIN,  Secretary." 


*The  attentive  reader  of  American  history  will  remember  that  it  was  General 
Gage  who,  some  ten  years  later,  precipitated  the  War  of  the  Revolution,  by  sending 
oat  from  Boston,  Massachusetts,  the  expeditionary  force  that  led  to  the  battle  of 
Lexington. 


Occurrences  in  Lower  Louisiana.  363 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

1764-1769. 

T 

^OCCURRENCES    IN    LOWER   LOUISIANA. 

On  the  15th  day  of  Jane,  1764,  M.  Neyon  de  Villiers, 
having  become  impatient  at  the  delay  of  the  British  con- 
querors in  arriving  to  take  possession  of  Fort  Chartres,  and 
disgusted  with  his  position,  relinquished  the  office  of  major- 
commandant  at  the  Illinois,  which  he  had  filled  nearly  four 
years,  and  departed  down  the  Mississippi,  accompanied  by 
six  officers,  sixty-three  soldiers,  and  eighty  French  inhab- 
itants of  Illinois,  including  women  and  children.*  He 
reached  New  Orleans  on  the  2d  of  July,  and  there  tem- 
porarily fixed  his  quarters.  Not  long  after  this,  he  was  re- 
quited for  his  fidelity  and  services  to  the  French  crown 
with  the  insignia  of  the  Cross  of  St.  Louis,  a  distinction 
corresponding  to  the  more  modern  Legion  of  Honor. 

Mons.  d'Abbadie  was  then  acting  governor  or  director- 
general  of  Louisiana,  having  superseded  Governor  Kerlerec 
in  June,  1763.  As  heretofore  observed,  Western  Louisiana, 
and  the  island  district  of  New  Orleans,  had  been  abandoned 
to  Spain  by  a  private  treaty  f  (Nov.  3,  1762),  which  was 


*  Many  of  these  "  inhabitants,"  who  were  induced  to  move  to  Louisi- 
ana by  assurances  from  De  Villiers  that  they  would  receive  lands  there 
in  lieu  of  those  they  had  abandoned,  soon  afterward  found  reason  to 
repent  of  their  haste  in  quitting  the  Illinois. 

T  Without  any  apparent  reference  to  this  separate  and  private  treaty, 
the  boundaries  between  the  French  and  British  possessions  in  North 
America  were  defined  by  the  definitive  treaty  of  peace  between  the  Kings 
of  France,  Spain  and  England,  signed  at  Paris  on  the  10th  of  February 
1763 ;  which  article  reads  as  follows : 

"Article  VII.  In  order  to  re-establish  peace  on  solid  and  durable 
foundations,  and  to  remove  forever  all  motives  for  dispute  respecting  the 
limits  of  the  French  and  British  territories  on  the  American  continent, 
it  has  been  agreed  that  the  limits  between  the  states  of  his  most  Chris- 
tian majesty  and  those  of  his  Britannic  majesty,  in  that  part  of  the 


364  De  ChoiseuVs  Note  to  Count  de  Fuentes. 

kept  a  state  secret  for  eighteen  months.  On  the  21st  of  April, 
1764,  the  French  prime  minister  addressed  the  following 
note  to  the  Spanish  ambassador  on  the  subject  of  the  cession 
of  Louisiana : 

"  VERSAILLES,  April  21,  1764. 

"  To  the  Conde  (Count)  de  Fuentes  .-—Sir,  the  king  has 
caused  the  necessary  orders  to  be  issued  for  the  surrender 
of  the  country  of  Louisiana,  with  New  Orleans  and  the 
island  on  which  the  said  city  stands,  into  the  hands  of  the 
commissioner  whom  his  Catholic  majesty  may  appoint  to 
receive  them.  I  have  sent  the  papers  to  the  Marquis 
d'  Ossun,  who  will  have  the  honor  to  present  them  to  his 
Catholic  majesty.  .Your  excellency  will  see  that  the  king's 
orders  are  entirely  conformable  with  the  acts  signed  in 
1762,  and  that  his  majesty  has  caused  some  articles  to  be 
inserted  equally  conducive  to  the  tranquillity  of  the  coun- 
try after  it  is  in  possession  of  his  Catholic  majesty,  and  to 
the  happiness  of  its  inhabitants. 

"  I  have  the  honor  to  be,  with  great  esteem,  your  ex- 
cellency's most  humble  and  obedient  servant. 

"  THE  Due  DE  CHOISEUL." 

At  the  same  time  a  letter  was  written  by  or  in  the 


world,  shall  hereafter  be  irrevocably  fixed  by  a  line  drawn  along  the 
middle  of  the  river  Mississippi,  from  its  source  to  the  river  Iberville ; 
and  thence  by  another  line  through  the  middle  of  that  river,  and  of  the 
lakes  Maurepas  and  Pontchartrain,  to  the  sea  ;  and  for  this  purpose,  the 
most  Christian  king  cedes  to  his  Britannic  majesty,  and  guaranties  to 
him,  the  entire  possession  of  the  river  and  port  of  Mobile,  and  of  all 
that  he  possesses  or  should  have  possessed  on  the  left  bank  of  the  river 
Mississippi,  with  the  exception  of  New  Orleans,  and  of  the  island  whereon 
that  city  stands,  which  are  to  remain  subject  to  France ;  it  being  under- 
stood that  the  navigation  of  the  Mississippi  River  is  to  be  equally  free  to 
the  subjects  of  Great  Britain  and  of  France,  in  its  whole  breadth  and 
extent,  from  its  source  to  the  sea,  and  particularly  that  part  between  the 
said  island  of  New  Orleans  and  the  right  bank  of  the  river,  as  well  as 
the  entrance  and  departure  by  its  mouth.  It  is  moreover  stipulated, 
that  the  vessels  belonging  to  the  subjects  of  either  nation  are  not  to  be 
detained,  searched,  nor  obliged  to  pay  any  duty  whatsoever.  The  stip- 
ulations contained  in  the  fourth  article,  in  favor  of  the  inhabitants  of 
Canada,  are  to  be  of  equal  effect  with  regard  to  the  inhabitants  of  the 
countries  ceded  by  this  article." 


Occurrences  in  Lower  Louisiana.  365 

name  of  Louis  XV.,  King  of  France,  to  M.  d'Abbadie, 
Director-general  of  Louisiana,  instructing  him  to  acquaint 
the  inhabitants  of  that  province  with  the  act  of  cession,  and 
to  t\irn  over  the  government  to  the  officers  of  Spain,  when 
they  should  arrive  to  receive  it.  We  give  place  here  to  an 
English  copy  of  this  historical  state  paper  : 

"Monsieur  d'Abbadie  : — Having,  by  a  special  act,  passed 
at  Fontainebleau,  November  3d,  1762,  ceded,  voluntarily, 
to  my  dear  and  well-beloved  cousin,  the  King  of  Spain,  his 
heirs  and  successors  in  full  right,  completely  and  without 
restriction,  the  whole  country  known  under  the  name  of 
Louisiana,  as  well  as  New  Orleans  and  the  island  on  which 
that  town  is  situated ;  and  the  King  of  Spain  having,  by 
another  act,  passed  at  the  Escurial,  on  the  13th  of  Novem- 
ber, in  the  same  year,  accepted  the  cession  of  the  said 
country  of  Louisiana  town  and  island  of  New  Orleans,  ac- 
cording to  the  annexed  copies  of  these  acts ;  I  write  this 
letter  to  inform  you  that  my  intention  is,  that  on  the  re- 
ceipt of  this  letter  and  the  copies  annexed,  whether  it 
reaches  you  through  the  officers  of  his  Spanish  Majesty,  or 
directly  by  the  French  vessels  charged  with  its  delivery, 
you  will  resign  into  the  hands  of  the  governor  (or  officer) 
therefor  appointed  by  the  King  of  Spain,  the  said  country 
and  colony  of  Louisiana  and  its  dependencies,  with  the  town 
and  island  of  New  Orleans,  in  such  state  as  they  may  be 
at  the  date  of  such  cession,  wishing  that  in  future  they  be- 
long to  his  Catholic  majesty,  to  be  governed  and  administered 
by  his  governors  and  officers  as  belonging  to  him,  in  full 
right  and  without  exception. 

"  I  accordingly  order,  that  as  soon  as  the  governor  and 
troops  of  his  Catholic  majesty  arrive  in  the  said  country 
and  colony,  you  put  them  in  possession,  and  withdraw  all 
the  officers,  soldiers  and  employes  in  my  service  in  garrison 
there,  to  send  them  to  France,  and  my  other  American 
colonies,  or  such  of  them  as  are  not  disposed  to  remain 
under  the  Spanish  authorities.  I  moreover  desire,  that, 
after  the  entire  evacuation  of  said  port  and  town  of  New 
Orleans,  you  collect  all  papers  relative  to  the  finances  and 


366          Letter  of  Louis  XV.  to  Governor  d'Abbadie. 

administration  of  the  colony  of  Louisiana,  and  come  to 
France  and  account  for  them. 

"  It  is,  nevertheless,  my  intention  that  you  hand  over 
to  the  governor,  or  officer  thereto  appointed,  all  the  papers 
and  documents  which  especially  concern  the  government  of 
the  'colony,  either  relative  to  the  colony  and  its  limits,  or 
relative  to  the  Indians  and  the  various  posts,  after  having 
drawn  proper  receipts  for  your  discharge,  and  given  said 
governor  all  the  information  in  your  power  to  enable  him 
to  govern  said  colony  to  the  reciprocal  satisfaction  of  both 
nations. 

"  It  is  my  will  that  there  be  made  an  inventory,  signed 
in  duplicate  by  you  and  his  Catholic  Majesty's  commissary, 
of  all  artillery,  effects,  magazines,  hospitals,  vessels,  etc., 
belonging  to  me  in  said  colony,  in  order  that,  after  putting 
said  commissary  in  possession  of  the  civil  edifices  and 
buildings,  an  appraisement  be  made  of  the  value  of  all  the 
effects  remaining  in  the  colony,  the  price  whereof  shall  be 
paid  by  his  Catholic  Majesty  according  to  such  appraisement. 

"  I  hope,  at  the  same  time,  for  the  advantage  and  tran- 
quillity of  the  inhabitants  of  the  colony  of  Louisiana,  and 
I  flatter  myself,  in  consequence  of  the  friendship  and  affec- 
tion of  his  Catholic  Majesty,  that  he  will  be  pleased  to  in- 
struct his  governor,  or  any  other  officers  employed  by  him 
in  said  colony  and  said  town  of  New  Orleans,  that  all  the 
ecclesiastics  and  religious  communities  shall  continue  to 
perform  the  rights,  privileges,  and  exemptions  granted  to 
them;  that  all  the  judges  of  ordinary  jurisdiction,  together 
with  the  Superior  Council,  shall  continue  to  administer 
justice  according  to  the  laws,  forms,  and  usages  of  the  col- 
ony ;  that  the  titles  of  the  inhabitants  to  their  property 
shall  be  confirmed  in  accordance  with  the  concessions  made 
by  the  governors  and  ordinary  commissaries  of  said  colony; 
and  that  said  concessions  shall  be  looked  upon  and  held  as 
confirmed  by  his  Catholic  Majesty,  although  they  may  not 
as  yet  have  been  confirmed  by  me  ;  hoping,  moreover,  that 
his  Catholic  Majesty  will  be  pleased  to  give  his  subjects  of 
Louisiana  the  marks  of  protection  and  good  will  which 
they  have  received  under  my  government,  which  would 


Occurrences  in  Lower  Louisiana.  367 

have  been  made  more  effectual,  if  not  counteracted  by  the 
calamities  of  war — 

"  I  order  you  to  have  this,  my  present  letter,  registered 
by  the  Superior  Council  at  New  Orleans,  in  order  that  the 
people  of  the  colony,  of  all  ranks  and  conditions,  be  in- 
formed of  its  contents,  and  that  they  may  avail  themselves 
of  it,  should  need  be ;  such  being  my  sole  object  in  writing 
this  letter.  I  pray  God,  M.  d'Abbadie,  to  have  you  in  his 
holy  keeping. 

"  Given  at  Versailles,  April  21,  1764. 

[Signed]  "  Louis. 

[Countersigned]     "  THE  Due  DE  CHOISEUL." 

It  was  not  until  October  of  that  year  that  Governor 
d'Abbadie  reluctantly  published  the  foregoing  letter.  His 
health  was  already  declining,  and  the  mental  distress  at- 
tending the  performance  of  this  official  duty  hastened  his 
death,  which  occurred  in  New  Orleans  on  the  4th  of  the 
following  February,  1765.  He  was  a  patriotic  and  popular 
magistrate,  just  to  all,  and  firm  in  his  enforcement  of  the 
laws.  At  a  meeting  of  the  leading  citizens  of  New  Orleans, 
held  shortly  after  his  decease,  a  feeling  tribute  was  paid  to 
his  memory. 

M.  d'Abbadie  was  succeeded  in  office  by  Captain  Charles 
Aubry,  the  senior  military  officer  of  the  province,  on  whom 
was  now  devolved  the  humiliating  duty  of  handing  over 
the  government  of  Louisiana  to  the  Spaniards.  By  his 
valor  in  the  war  with  England,  Aubry  had  won  high  praise 
and  the  Cross  of  St.  Louis,  and  was  also  respected  for  his 
social  virtues ;  but  though  a  good  grenadier,  he  had  few 
qualities  to  fit  him  for  properly  governing  a  colony  situated 
as  Louisiana  then  was.* 


*  Memoir  of  Louisiana,  by  the  Chevalier  de  Champigny.  He  was  a 
contemporary  and  acquaintance  of  Aubry's,  and  has  drawn  his  por- 
trait in  no  flattering  terms.  Here  it  is:  "  M.  Aubry  was  a  little,  dry, 
lean,  ugly  man,  without  nobility,  dignity,  or  carriage.  His  face  would 
seem  to  announce  a  hypocrite,  but  in  him  this  vice  sprang  from  exces- 
sive goodness,  which  gran  ted  all  rather  than  displease;  always  trembling 
for  the  consequences  of  the  most  indifferent  actions,  a  natural  effect  of 


368  Arrival  of  Acadians  in  Louisiana. 

Between  the  first  of  January  and  the  15th  of  May,  1765, 
about  six  hundred  and  fifty  Acadian  exiles  arrived  in  New 
Orleans  from  the  English  colonies,  to  swell  the  population 
of  that  part  of  Louisiana  still  nominally  remaining  to  the 
French.  At  this  juncture  of  affairs,  their  coming  was  re- 
garded as  a  misfortune,  since  it  imposed  a  fresh  burden 
upon  the  unhappy  colonists.  Nevertheless,  the  claims  of 
kindred  humanity  could  not  be  ignored,  and  the  poor  ex- 
iles were  sent  by  the  acting  governor  to  form  settlements  in 
the  districts  of  Attakapas  and  Opelousas.  In  the  following 
February  (1766),  two  hundred  and  sixteen  more  Acadians 
arrived  to  join  their  brethren  in  Louisiana.  They  were 
authorized  to  make  settlements  on  both  sides  of  the  Missis- 
sippi, from  below  Baton  Rouge  up  to  Point  Coupee.  Hence 
originated  the  epithet  of  "Acadian  Coast,"  which  is  still 
applied  to  the  banks  of  the  river  between  those  two  points. 
As  these  refugees  were  destitute  of  supplies,  the  same  ra- 
tions were  issued  to  them  by  the  provincial  commissary, 
during  the  first  year  of  their  residence,  as  were  allowed  to 
the  troops  in  the  province.  They  were  an  industrious  and 
frugal  people,  strongly  attached  to  the  French  interest  and 
the  Catholic  religion,  and  they  prospered  almost  from  the 
start  in  Louisiana. 

When  the  treaty-cession  of  Louisiana  to  Spain  was  at 
last  made  public,  it  created  surprise  and  indignation  at  New 
Orleans  and  elsewhere  in  the  province,  and  a  general  feeling 
of  despair  would  have  ensued,  if  the  people  had  not  been 
buoyed  up  with  the  hope  that  the  transfer  would  never 
actually  take  place.  Early  in  the  year  1765,  a  meeting  of 
the  principal  citizens  and  planters  from  the  different  parishes 
was  convened  in  the  city  of  New  Orleans  for  the  purpose 
of  considering  the  subject  of  their  distracted  condition, 

a  mind  without  resource  or  light,  always  allowing  itself  to  be  guided, 
and  thus  often  swerving  from  rectitude ;  religious  through  weakness 
rather  than  from  principle ;  incapable  of  wishing  evil,  but  doing  it 
through  a  charitable  human  weakness ;  destitute  of  magnanimity  or  re- 
flection ;  a  good  soldier,  but  a  bad  leader ;  ambitious  of  honors  and  dig- 
nity, but  possessing  neither  firmness  nor  capacity  to  bear  the  weight."— 
Vide  Hist.  Coil's  of  La.  (Fifth  of  the  series),  p.  153. 


Last  Appearance  of  Bienville ;  His  Death.  369 

and  of  sending  to  the  throne  of  France  a  united  appeal  for 
royal  interposition  in  their  behalf.  At  this  meeting  La  Fre- 
niere,  attorney-general  of  Louisiana,  made  an  eloquent 
speech  on  the  situation  of  the  colony,  and  presented  a  res- 
olution earnestly  supplicating  the  king  not  to  sever  the 
colony  from  the  parent  .country.  The  resolution  was 
promptly  adopted,  and  Jean  Milhet,  of  New  Orleans,  was 
selected  to  carry  the  petition  to  the  foot  of  the  throne. 

Upon  his  arrival  in  Paris,  Milhet  went  to  the  residence 
of  the  aged  Bienville,  who,  by  his  request,  accompanied 
him  to  Versailles.  Waiting  upon  the  Duke  de  Choiseul, 
the  prime  minister  of  Louis  XV.,  they  were  courteously  re- 
ceived and  their  statements  attentively  listened  to  ;  but  the 
resolution  of  the  minister  was  unshaken,  and  he  replied  to 
them,  in  substance,  as  follows  : 

"  Gentlemen,  I  must  put  an  end  to  this  painful  scene. 
I  am  deeply  grieved  at  not  being  able  to  give  you  any 
hope.  I  have  no  hesitation  in  telling  you  that  I  can  not 
address  the  king  on  this  subject,  because  I  myself  advised 
the  cession  of  Louisiana.  Is  it  not  to  your  knowledge  that 
the  colony  can  not  continue  its  present  precarious  existence, 
except  at  an  enormous  expense,  of  which  France  is  now 
utterly  incapable  ?  Is  it  not  better,  then,  that  Louisiana 
should  be  given  away  to  a  friend  and  faithful  ally,  than 
be  wrenched  from  us  by  an  hereditary  foe  ?  Farewell.  You 
have  my  best  wishes ;  I  can  do  no  more." 

This  interview  is  depicted  by  Mr.  Gayarre  as  an  affect- 
ing one,  and  the  pathetic  appeal  of  Bienville  on  behalf  of 
Louisiana  as  not  unlike  that  of  a  father  pleading  for  the 
life  of  his  child  ;  yet,  under  the  then  circumstances,  it  was  of 
no  avail.  The  excitement  attending  his  effort,  and  grief  at 
the  loss  of  his  beloved  colony,  seem  to  have  loosened  the 
feeble  chords  that  bound  him  to  life,  and  he  died  not  very 
long  afterward  in  his  eighty-seventh  year.*  He  had  sur- 

*  Bienville  deceased  March  7,  1767,  and  was  buried  with  military 
honors  in  the  cemetery  of  Montmartre.  His  engraved  portrait,  from  an 
oil  painting  belonging  to  the  Le  Moyne  family  mansion  at  Longueil, 
Canada,  presents  him  with  a  martial  figure  and  a  noble  head,  in  keeping 
V'ith  his  record. 
24 


370  Occurrences  in  Lower  Louisiana. 

vived  all  of  his  eminent  brothers.  He  had  seen  Canada, 
the  land  of  his  nativity,  pass  from  the  possession  of  the 
crown  of  France  to  that  of  Great  Britain,  and  must  now 
witness  the  transfer  of  Louisiana,  with  its  future  proud 
metropolis,  which  he  had  founded  and  fostered,  to  the  do- 
minion of  Spain.  All  that  the  patriarch  had  most  loved 
and  cherished  on  earth  was  gone  before.  Hence,  it  was 
not  desirable  for  him  to  longer  live,  and  he  departed  to 
join  the  shade  of  his  favorite  brother,  Iberville,  in  the  spirit 
world.* 

The  primary  motive  of  France,  in  voluntarily  ceding 
Western  Louisiana  to  Spain,  appears  to  have  been  to  in- 
demnify the  latter  for  her  expenses  in  the  war  then  just 
closed.  Another  incentive  was  to  prevent  Louisiana  from 
falling  into  the  hands  of  Great  Britain.  Moreover,  the 
province  had  become  a  burden  to  the  French  government, 
of  which  it  was  anxious  to  be  disincumbered.  It  has  been 
computed  that  France,  in  her  prolonged  attempt  to  colonize 
Louisiana,  expended  directly,  or  indirectly,  nearly  twenty 
millions  of  dollars,  without  receiving  any  proportionate  re- 
turn ;  and -if  she  had  continued  to  hold  the  country,  it 
would  have  been  necessary  for  her  to  have  incurred  a  large 
additional  outlay.  "  Hence,"  says  Gayerre,  "  the  anxiety 
of  the  French  government  to  part  with  a  territory,  which, 
at  a  later  period,  in  abler  hands,  was  destined  to  astonish 
the  world  by  its  rapid  and  gigantic  prosperity." 

The  Duke  de  Choiseul  having  refused  to  address  the 
king  on  the  question  of  revoking  the  transfer  of  Louisiana 
to  Spain,  and  having  denied  Milhet  access  to  his  majesty, 
the  commissioner  returned  to  New  Orleans,  and  reported 
the  failure  of  his  mission.  Still  hoping  that  the  treaty  of 
cession  would  never  be  carried  into  execution,  Jean  Milhet 
was  again  sent  to  France,  but  returned  with  a  like  result. 
His  next  voyage,  as  we  shall  hereafter  see,  was  as  a  state 
prisoner  to  Moro  Castle,  in  Cuba. 

The  French  colonists,  however,  did  not  altogether 
lose  hope,  in  which  they  were  sustained  by  the  delay  of 

*  Gayarr6's  Hist  of  La.,  Vol.  II,  pp.  128-9. 


Opposition  to  Ulloa's  Government.  371 

the  Spanish  government  in  taking  possession  of  the  coun- 
try. It  was  not  until  the  middle  of  the  year  1765,  that  the 
Court  of  Madrid  appointed  Captain  Don  Antonio  de  Ulloa — 
a  man  of  high  reputation,  and  descended  from  a  family  dis- 
tinguished in  the  maritime  annals  of  his  country — to  as- 
sume the  government  of  Louisiana.  Some  months  in  ad- 
vance of  his  arrival  in  the  province,  Ulloa  wrote  from 
Havana  to  the  Superior  Council  at  New  Orleans  the  fol- 
lowing brief  letter,  announcing  his  mission  : 

"  Gentlemen — Having  recently  been  instructed  by  his 
Catholic  Majesty  to  repair  to  your  town  and  take  posses- 
sion of  it  in  his  name,  and  in  conformity  with  the  orders 
of  his  Most  Christian  Majesty,  I  avail  myself  of  this  occa- 
sion to  make  you  acquainted  with  my  mission,  and  to  give 
you  information  that  I  shall  soon  have  the  honor  to  be 
among  you,  in  order  to  proceed  to  the  execution  of  my 
commission.  I  natter  myself  beforehand,  that  it  will  afford 
me  favorable  opportunities  to  render  you  all  the  services 
that  you  and  the  inhabitants  of  your  town  may  desire;  of 
which  I  beg  you  to  give  them  the  assurance  from  me,  and 
let  them  know  that  in  acting  thus,  I  only  discharge  my 
duty  and  gratify  my  inclinations. 

"  I  have  the  honor  to  be,  etc., 

"ANTONIO  DE  ULLOA." 

"  Havana,  July  10,  1765." 

The  Spanish  governor  arrived  at  the  Balize,*  with 
some  Capuchin  friars  and  eighty  soldiers,  on  the  28th  of 
February,  1766,  and,  proceeding  up  the  Mississippi,  landed 
in  New  Orleans  on  the  5th  of  March.  He  was  received  by 
the  French  inhabitants  with  every  superficial  mark  of 
courtesy  and  good  will ;  but  such  was  their  aversion  to 
Spanish  rule,  and  such  the  lack  of  tact  and  administrative 
talent  of  Ulloa  himself,  that  he  could  not  openly  exercise 
his  authority.!  The  French  troops  continued  to  serve 


*  A  small  port  or  settlement  at  the  outlet  of  the  Mississippi,  on 
the  west  side,  in  French  times.  It  took  its  name  from  the  Spanish  word 
baliza,  a  beacon. 

t  The  mistake  of  the  Spanish  government,  at  this  time,  was  in  not 
sending  an  adequate  military  force  to  sustain  Ulloa's  authority. 


372  Occurrences  in  Lower  Louisiana. 

under  their  national  flag ;  the  council  acted  in  the  name  of 
the  King  of  France ;  and  all  orders  emanated  from  Aubry, 
the  de  facto  French  governor,  who  practically  governed  the 
colony  for  the  King  of  Spain.  The  Spanish  flag  was  un- 
furled at  the  Balize,  on  the  banks  of  the  river  Iberville,  at 
the  post  opposite  Natchez,  and  at  the  Missouri;  but  at  all 
the  other  posts  in  the  province,  the  Fr-ench  colors  were 
kept  up  as  before. 

Governor  Ulloa  was  apparently  so  desirous  of  concili- 
ating those  over  whose  afiairs  he  had  come  to  preside,  that 
on  his  arrival  he  promised  to  keep  at  a  fixed  rate  the  de- 
preciated paper  currency  of  the  province,  which  then 
amounted  to  about  seven  millions  of  livres.  He  also  as- 
certained the  resources  and  wants  of  the  country,  and 
agreed  to  discharge  the  most  pressing  demands  against  it. 
On  the  6th  of  September,  1766,  the  governor  published  an 
ordinance  of  the  Spanish  government  regulating  and  limit- 
ing the  commerce  of  Louisiana,  but  permitting  a  direct 
trade  with  the  French  West  Indies.  This,  together  with 
subsequent  commercial  restrictions,  produced  great  discon- 
tent and  excitement  at  New  Orleans,  and  Ulloa,  fearing 
an  attempt  on  his  life,  retired  for  safety  to  the  Balize. 
Here  (January  20,  1767)  he  effected  an  arrangement  with 
Aubry,  by  which  the  latter  resigned  to  him  the  colony  of 
Louisiana,  but  agreed  to  govern  it  for  the  time  being.  This 
act  was  signed  by  the  two  governors  in  duplicate,  and  was 
to  be  exchanged  by  the  two  courts  of  Paris  and  Madrid.* 

In  the  meantime  a  conspiracy  was  set  on  foot  by 
Lafreniere,  Foucault,  Marquis,  Noyon,  Villere,  Milhet, 
Petit,  Caresse,  Poupet,  Boisblanc,  and  others,  to  drive  Ul- 
loa and  his  Spaniards  from  the  province.  To  this  end,  at  a 
delegate  convention  of  planters,  merchants  and  tradesmen, 
held  in  New  Orleans  on  the  28th  of  October,  1768,  a  peti- 
tion was  signed  by  five  hundred  and  thirty-six  persons,  pray- 
ing the  Superior  Council  for  a  restoration  of  their  former 
rights  and  privileges,  and  for  the  expulsion  of  the  Span- 
iards from  the  country.  This  petition  was  presented  to  the 


*  Champigny's  Memoir  of  Louisiana. 


Revolution  against  the  Spanish  Authority.  373 

Council  on  the  next  day  (the  29th),  and,  despite  the  formal 
protest  of  Aubry,  the  French  commandant,  a  decree  was 
passed  that  Ulloa  and  the  Spanish  troops  should  leave  the 
colony  within  three  days.  Governor  Ulloa  did  not  stand 
on  the  order  of  his  going,  but  embarked  on  the  evening  of 
the  31st  of  October,  with  his  few  troops,  and  sailed  for 
Spain,  where  he  arrived  on  the  4th  of  December  following. 
The  news  of  this  ill-starred  revolution  soon  reached 
Spain,  and  the  king  (Charles  III.)  called  a  meeting  of  his 
ministers  to  determine  upon  the  fate  of  Louisiana.  At  this 
cabinet  council  it  was  decided  that  possession  of  that  prov- 
ince should  be  taken  by  force,  if  necessary.  Apprehending 
considerable  resistance  from  the  French  inhabitants,  the 
king  issued  orders  for  the  fitting  out  of  a  formidable  expe- 
dition, and  gave  the  command  of  it  to  General  O'Reilly, 
whom  he  also  appointed  governor  and  captain-general  of 
the  province.* 

*"Don  Alexaiidro  O'Reilly  was  born  in  Ireland  about  the  year  1^35, 
and  when  quite  a  young  man  went  to  Spain,  and  entered  the  Spanish 
military  service.  Joining  a  body  of  his  native  countrymen  called  the 
"  Hibernia  Regiment,"  he  served  a  campaign  in  Italy,  where  he  received 
a  wound  which  lamed  him  for  the  rest  of  his  life.  In  1755  he  obtained 
permission  from  the  king  to  enter  the  Austrian  army,  and  made  two 
campaigns  against  the  Prussians.  In  1759  he  volunteered  in  the  army 
of  France,  in  which  he  distinguished  himself  by  his  soldierly  qualities, 
and  was  recommended  by  the  Duke  de  Broglie  to  the  King  of  Spain, 
who  commissioned  him  to  the  rank  of  lieutenant-colonel ;  and,  as  such, 
he  served  with  distinction  in  the  war  with  Portugal.  He  was  afterward 
promoted  to  the  rank  of  brigadier-general,  and  on  the  conclusion  of  the 
peace  of  1762  was  raised  to  the  rank  of  major-general,  in  which  capacity 
he  was  sent  to  Havana  to  rebuild  the  fortifications  of  that  city,  which 
had  been  demolished  by  the  British.  O'Reilly  stood  high  in  the  confi- 
dence of  the  king,  notwithstanding  the  prejudice  existing  against  him 
among  the  Spaniards  on  account  of  his  foreign  birth.  He  was  a  man  of 
flexible  disposition  and  conciliatory  manners,  yet  stern  and  unyielding 
of  purpose.  We  are  not  informed  of  the  precise  nature  of  his  instruc- 
tions on  being  sent  to  Louisiana ;  but  the  substance  of  them  is  embodied 
in  a  royal  order  addressed  to  Don  Pedro  Gracia,  under  date  of  January 
28,  1771,  in  which  the  king  says:  "But  those  inhabitants  having  re- 
belled, ...  I  commissioned  Don  Alexandro  O'Reilly,  lieutenant- 
general  of  the  army,  and  inspector-general  of  all  my  infantry,  to  pro- 
ceed thither,  take  formal  possession,  chastise  the  ringleaders  (informing 
me  of  all),  establish  the  said  government,  uniting  the  province  to  the 


374  Occurrences  in  Lower  Louisiana. 

Governor  O'Reilly  arrived  at  the  mouth  of  the  Missis- 
sippi on  the  24th  of  July,  1769,  with  a  fleet  of  twenty-four 
ships  and  transports,  bearing  an  army  of  twenty-six  hundred 
choice  troops, — a  force  so  large  as  to  render  all  attempts  at 
resistance  hopeless.  On  the  same  day  he  dispatched  his  aid 
to  Aubry,  the  acting  French  governor,  to  announce  his  ar- 
rival, and  to  notify  him  that  he  was  duly  authorized  to 
receive  possession  of  the  Province  of  Louisiana. 

The  coming  of  the  Spanish  armament  excited  a  great 
commotion  in  New  Orleans ;  and  on  the  27th  the  citizens 
sent  delegates  to  O'Reilly  to  implore  his  clemency.  They 
returned  to  the  city  the  next  day  with  assurances  from  the 
governor  that  he  was  disposed  to  be  lenient.  On  the  17th 
of  August  he  reached  New  Orleans,  and  on  the  next  day 
took  military  possession  of  the  government. 

Governor  O'Reilly  entered  upon  the  duties  of  his  re- 
sponsible office  with  every  outward  manifestation  of  respect 
for  all  classes  of  the  citizens ;  but,  while  promising  pardon 
to  those  who  quietly  submitted,  he  had  resolved  in  his  own 
mind  to  punish  the  principal  actors  in  the  late  revolution. 
This  determination,  however,  was  concealed  until  he  had 
procured  from  Aubry,  the  retiring  French  governor,  a  full 
report  of  that  event.  On  the  21st  and  22d  of  August,  after 
receiving  Aubry's  communication,  he  caused  to  be  quietly 
arrested  and  imprisoned  twelve  chiefs  of  the  revolution 
that  had  expelled  his  predecessor,  'Ulloa.  They  were, 
Nicholas  Chauvin  de  la  Freniere,  ex-procureur-general  of 
the  province,  and  senior  member  of  the  Superior  Council  ; 
Jean  Baptiste  Noyon,  his  son-in-law,  a  young  man  of  great 
worth  and  promise ;  Pierre  Caresse,  captain  of  militia ; 
Pierre  Marquis,  a  knight  of  St.  Louis;  Jean  and  Joseph 
Milhet,  father  and  son  ;  Joseph  Villiere,*  captain  in  the 

rest  of  my  dominions;  all  of  which  he  did,  adapting  its  laws,  and  after 
proposing  to  me  that  which  he  judged  proper  for  the  commerce  of  the 
country,  and  for  the  extinction  of  the  council  by  which  it  is  governed, 
and  establishing  a  cabildo  in  the  place  of  said  council,  and  taking  other 
measures,  all  of  which  were  approved  by  me,"  etc. — Hist.  Coil's  of  La., 
Fifth  Series  (N.  Y.,  1853),  p.  247. 

*  Villerd  resisted  arrest,  and  died  in  prison  three  days  after,  from 


Conviction  and  Sentence  of  the  Revolutionists.         375 

militia;  Joseph  Petit,  merchant;  Balthauser  de  Masan, 
captain  in  the  French  service;  Jerome  Doucet,  lawyer; 
Hardi  de  Boishlanc,  assessor  to  the  Council;  and  Pierre 
Poupet,  merchant.* 

These  sudden  arrests  produced  extreme  uneasiness  and 
trepidation  among  the  French  inhabitants.  To  quiet  their 
fears,  the  Spanish  governor,- on  the  23d  of  August,  issued 
a  proclamation  of  amnesty,!  and  a  call  inviting  the  people 
to  appear  before  him  on  the  26th,  and  take  the  oath  of  al- 
legiance to  his  Catholic  majesty. 

Something  over  a  month  after  their  arrest,  the  pris- 
oners were  arraigned  before  a  semi -military  tribunal,  con- 
stituted for  the  purpose,  on  the  charge  of  treason  and  re- 
bellion, the  deceased  Villere  being  represented  by  an  attor- 
ney in  fact.  They  were  tried  and  convicted  under  Spanish 
law,  and  their  property  was  confiscated  to  the  state,  after 

the  effect  of  wounds  received  in  his  struggle  with  the  Spanish  gendarmes 
for  liberty. 

*  M.  Foucault,  president  of  the  Superior  Council,  and  commissary  of 
the  province,  was  also  placed  under  guard ;  but  at  his  request,  and  in 
deference  to  his  official  position,  he  was  sent  to  France  for  trial.  He  is 
described  as  a  wily  man,  who  acted  with  singular  duplicity  toward  the 
revolutionists  in  Louisiana. 

t  [O'Reilly's  Proclamation  of  Amnesty.] 

"  In  the  name  of  the  King,  we,  Alexander  O'Reilly,  commander  of 
Benfayan,  in  the  order  of  Alcantara,  major  and  inspector-general  of  the 
armies  of  his  Catholic  majesty,  captain-general  and  governor  of  the 
Province  of  Louisiana,  in  virtue  of  the  orders  of  his  Catholic  majesty, 
and  of  the  powers  with  which  we  are  invested,  declare  to  all  the  inhab- 
itants of  the  Province  of  Louisiana,  that  whatever  just  cause  past 
events  may  have  given  his  majesty  to  make  them  feel  his  indignation, 
yet  his  majesty's  intention  is  to  listen  only  to  the  inspirations  of 
his  royal  clemency,  because  he  is  persuaded  that  the  inhabitants 
of  Louisiana  would  not  have  committed  the  offense  of  which  they  are 
guilty,  if  they  had  not  been  seduced  by  the  intrigues  of  some  ambitious 
fanatic,  and  evil-minded  men,  who  had  the  temerity  to  make  a  crim- 
inal use  of  the  ignorance  and  excessive  credulity  of  their  fellow-citizens. 
These  men  alone  will  answer  for  their  crimes,  and  will  be  judged  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  laws.  So  generous  an  act  on  the  part  of  his  majesty 
might  be  a  pledge  to  him  that  his  new  subjects  will  endeavor  every  day 
of  their  lives  to  deserve  by  their  fidelity,  zeal,  and  obedience,  the  par- 
don and  protection  which  he  grants  them  from  this  moment." 


376  Occurrences  in  Lower  Louisiana. 

the  payment  of  their  debts.  The  sentence  of  the  court  was 
pronounced  by  the  governor  himself,  October  24, 1769.  Five 
of  the  number,  viz.,  Lafreniere,  Noyon,  Caresse,  Marquis, 
and  (Joseph)  Milhet,  were  condemned  to  death  on  the  gal- 
lows ;  but  as  no  white  hangman  could  be  found  in  the  col- 
ony, they  were  shot  (October  24th)  in  the  yard  of  the  bar- 
racks. The  memory  of  Villere  was  declared  infamous.  It 
has  been  observed,  and  perhaps  truly,  that  these  men  died 
victims  to  their  love  of  liberty  rather  than  of  devotion  to 
France. 

The  six  remaining  culprits  were  sentenced  to  varying 
terms  of  imprisonment.  Petit  was  sentenced  to  imprison- 
ment for  life  ;  Masan  and  Doucet  to  ten  years  ;  Boisblanc, 
Milhet  (Jean),  and  Poupet  to  six  years  each,  with  the  un- 
derstanding that  none  of  them  should  ever  be  permitted  to 
live  in  any  of  the  dominions  of  his  Catholic  majesty.  They 
were  shortly  after  transported  to  Havana,  andvincarcerated 
in  Moro  Castle ;  but  they  were  subsequently  pardoned  by 
the  King  of  Spain,  on  the  intercession  of  the  French  am- 
bassador at  that  court.  After  their  release,  it  is  said  that 
they  went  to  reside  at  Cape  Francois,  in  St.  Domingo.* 

The  extreme  punishment  thus  meted  out  to  a  few 
leaders,  while  a  free  pardon  was  extended  to  the  mass  of 
the  people,  though  conformable  to  Spanish  ideas  of  justice 
and  clemency,  aroused  a  deep  feeling  of  indignation  among 
the  French  inhabitants  of  Louisiana,  and  evoked  much  un- 
favorable criticism  in  Old  France. 

O'Reilly  now  proceeded  to  abolish  the  laws  of  France 
in  the  province,  and  to  substitute  those  of  Spain.  On  the 
21st  of  November,  he  issued  his  proclamation  for  the  aboli- 
tion of  the  Superior  Council,  which  had  been  deeply  impli- 
cated in  the  insurrection  against  Spanish  authority.  In 
place  of  the  Superior  Council,  he  established  the  Cabildo, 
which  was  both  a  high  court  and  a  legislative  council,  and 
at  which  the  governor  presided.  In  its  judicial  capacity, 
it  only  exercised  appellate  jurisdiction  in  appeals  from  the 

*  For  a  circumstantial  account  of  this  remarkable  state  trial,  see 
Gayarre's  Hist,  of  La.,  Vol.  II,  pp.  303-343. 


Foreign  Population  of  the  Province.  377 

Alcalde  courts,  which  were  established  in  New  Orleans  and 
the  various  villages. 

He  appointed  lieutenant-governors  for  the  several  dis- 
tricts of  the  province ;  and  a  commandant,  with  the  rank 
of  captain,  was  appointed  for  each  parish  or  settlement, 
with  authority  to  exercise  a  mixed  civil  and  military  juris- 
diction. 

He  also  caused  to  be  published,  in  French,  an  abridgment 
of  Spanish  law,  which  he  promulgated  for  the  government 
of  the  province  until  the  Spanish  language  should  be  bet- 
ter understood  by  the  colonists.  This  publication,  known 
as  the  "  Ordinances  and  Instructions  of  Don  Alexander 
O'Reilly,"  was  afterward  approved  by  the  "  Council  of  the 
Indies."  The  Spanish  language  was  henceforth  that  in 
which  the  judicial  proceedings  were  conducted  and  records 
kept  throughout  the  province.  The  black  code,  or  code 
noir,  which  had  been  previously  in  force  in  the  colony,  was 
modified  and  re-enacted  for  the  government  of  the  slaves. 
Foreigners  were  prohibited  from  passing  through  the  coun- 
try without  passports  from  the  governor,  and  the  inhabit- 
ants were  prevented  from  trading  with  the  English  colonies. 
The  colonists  were  at  first  permitted  to  emigrate,  and  many 
availed  themselves  of  this  privilege ;  but,  finding  that  the 
province  was  losing  some  of  its  valuable  citizens,  O'Reilly 
refused  to  issue  any  more  passports. 

In  accordance  with  an  enumeration  made  during  Gov. 
O'Reilly's  administration,  the  whole  foreign  population  of 
Louisiana  amounted  to  thirteen  thousand,  two  hundred 
and  thirty-eight  souls,  about  one-half  of  whom  were  Afri- 
can slaves.  They  were  distributed  in  the  settlements  as 
follows : 

New  Orleans  *  [district  of],         .  .          3,190 

From  the  Balize  to  town  [N.  0.]      .  .       570 


*  According  to  the  lowest  estimate,  at  this  time,  the  number  of 
houses  in  New  Orleans  proper  was  468.  Most  of  these  were  single  story 
structures  of  brick  or  wood,  having  gardens  attached,  and  cellars  above 
ground.  They  were  situated  within  the  quadrilateral  still  known  as 
"  Old  French  Town." 


378  Occurrences  in  Lower  Louisiana. 

Bayou  St.  John  and  Gentilly,     .             .  307 

Tehoupitoulas  [above  New  Orleans],  .    4,192 

St.  Charles,           .             .             .             .  339 

St.  John  the  Baptiste,            .             .  .       544 

LaFourche,          ....  267 

Iberville,  x 376 

Point  Coupee,       .             .             .             .  783 

Attakapas,      .             .             .             .  .409 

Avoyvelles,           ....  314 

Natchitoches,              .             .             .  .811 

Rapides,    .   •                      .            .            .  47 

Ouachita,        .            .            .            .  .110 

Arkansas  [Post  of],          ...  88 

St.  Louis  [adjacent  to  the  Illinois],  .       891 


13,238  * 

This  aggregate  seems  small,  considering  the  fact  that 
the  French  had  been  in  Louisiana  seventy  years ;  yet  it 
must  be  remembered  that  the  province  was  now  sfyorn  of 
all  its  territory  lying  north  of  New  Orleans  and  east  of  the 
Mississippi  River,  including  the  Mobile,  Natchez,  and  the 
Illinois.  At  this  transition  epoch,  a  majority  of  the  French 
inhabitants  chose  to  regard  themselves  as  miserable  exiles, 
and  were  only  consoled  by  the  hope  of  acquiring  sufficient 
means  to  enable  them  to  return  to  Old  France  to  die. 
About  the  only  contented  white  people  in  the  province 
were  the  Acadians,  and  a  colony  of  Germans,  whom  Law's 
company  had  sent  here  in  1722. 

The  Spanish  government  ratified  and  confirmed  all  of 
O'Reilly's  official  acts  in  Louisiana,  but  it  took  care  not  to 
continue  him  in  command  there  after  his  work  was  done. 
He  was  accordingly  recalled  within  a  year  from  the  date  of 

*  Hist,  of  La.  (GayarrS),  Vol.  II,  p.  355. 

The  exports  of  the  province  during  the  last  year  of  its  subjection 
to  France  were  as  follows:  Indigo,  $100,000;  deer  skins,  $80,000;  lum- 
ber, $50,000  ;  naval  stores,  $12,000  ;  rice,  peas,  and  beans,  $4,000 ;  tallow, 
$4,000.  Total  exports,  $250,000. 


Fate  of  Aubry,  the  Last  Acting  French  Governor.      379 

his  appointment.  During  that  brief  period,  however,  he 
left  an  impress  of  his  own  and  the  Spanish  character  upon 
the  laws  and  institutions  of  Louisiana,  such  as  neither  time, 
nor  subsequent  political  changes,  has  wholly  obliterated. 

We  must  now  return  to  M.  Charles  Aubry,  whose  fate 
was  sad  and  tragical.  Having  at  length  transferred  the  gov- 
ernment of  Louisiana  to  Captain-General  O'Reilly,  Aubry 
prepared  to  return  to  France.  Early  in  January,  1770,  he 
embarked  in  the  ship  or  brigantine  called  Pere  de  Famille, 
bound  for  Bordeaux.  On  the  18th  of  February,  when  this 
vessel  had  entered  the  mouth  of  the  river  Garonne,  she  met 
a  violent  storm,  and  foundered  near  the  Tower  of  Corduan. 
All  on  board  perished,  save  the  captain,  a  sergeant,  and  two 
sailors,  who  succeeded  in  reaching  the  land. 

"  The  king,  in  .order  to  show  how  much  he  appreciated 
the  services  of  Aubry,  granted  a  pension  to  the  brother  and 
sister  of  that  officer.  Aubry,  before  his  departure  from 
Louisiana,  had  been  offered  a  high  grade  in  the  Spanish 
army,  as  a  token  of  satisfaction  at  the  liberal  course  which 
he  had  pursued  toward  that  nation  in  the  colony,  but  he 
refused  it  on  the  ground  that  he  intended  to  devote  the 
remnant  of  his  days  to  the  service  of  his  native  country. 
Some  there  were,  who  thought  that  if  those  whom  they 
loved  so  dearly  had  been  unjustly  treated,  it  was  mostly  in 
consequence  of  the  imprudent  denunciations  of  that  officer, 
and  of  his  servility  to  O'Reilly  and  the  Spaniards.  By 
them  his  melancholy  end  was  looked  upon  as  an  act  of  the 
retributive  justice  of  Heaven."  * 

One  of  the  most  noteworthy  events  associated  with  the 
close  of  the  French  rule  in  Louisiana  was  the  banishment 
of  the  Jesuits,  which  was  effected  by  a  decree  of  the  Su- 
perior Council  in  1763,  followed  by  an  edict  of  the  King  of 


*  Hist,  of  La.  (Gayarr4),  Vol.  II.,  p.  344. 

Note. — The  official  correspondence  of  Aubry  was  deposited  in  the 
archives  at  Paris,  but  his  private  journal,  with  valuable  papers  belong- 
ing to  the  province,  were  lost  with  him  in  the  shipwreck.  This  was  to 
be  regretted,  since  they  contained  much  matter  tending  to  illustrate  the 
history  of  Louisiana  during  that  troubled  period. 


380  Occurrences  in  Lower  Louisiana. 

France  in  1764.*  All  the  valuable  property  of  that  religious 
order  in  the  province,  including  plate  and  vestments,  was 
sequestered,  confiscated,  and  sold,  for  the  aggregate  amount 
of  $180,000 — a  large  sum,  says  Mr.  Gayarre,  at  that  day — 
which,  after  deducting  the  expenses,  was  covered  into  the 
public  treasury.  The  Capuchins,  who  had  been  established 
in  Lower  Louisiana  since  1722,  and  had  long  contended  at 
disadvantage  with  the  Jesuits,  were  now  freed  from  the 
presence  of  their  formidable  rivals,  and  had  this  field  of 
labor  to  themselves. 

In  this  connection,  some  historical  notice  of  the  famous 
Sodetas  Jesu  (Society  of  Jesus)  may  not  be  uninteresting  or 
uninstructive  to  the  general  reader.  It  was  founded  in 
Paris  by  Ignatius  Loyola,  an  ex'-Spanish  soldier  and  re- 
ligious enthusiast,  in  the  year  1534.  The  society  was  pri- 
marily established  to  promote  the  following  objects,  viz : 
"  The  education  of  youth,  preaching  of  the  Gospel,  defend- 
ing the  Roman  Catholic  faith  against  heretics  and  unbeliev- 
ers, and  propagating  Christianity  among  the  pagans  and 
other  infidels."  Its  constitution  and  laws  were  perfected, 
it  is  said,  by  Laynez  and  Acquaviva,  two  generals  of  the 
order  who  early  succeeded  Loyola,  and  who  much  sur- 
passed him  in  learning  and  the  science  of  government. 
They  framed  and  introduced  that  system  of  profound  and 
artful  policy — a  singular  union  of  laxity  and  rigor — which 
has  ever  distinguished  the  Jesuit  order.  After  receiving 
the  formal  sanction  of  Pope  Paul  III.,  in  1540,  the  society 
spread  rapidly  throughout  Europe,  and  flourished  with 
ever-increasing  vigor  and  activity  for  above  two  centuries. 
It  overshadowed  all  other  orders  in  the  Church  of  Rome, 
and  at  length  became  so  rich,  haughty, -and  powerful  as  to 
excite  the  jealousy  and  alarm  of  the  crowned  heads  of 
Europe. 

But  whatever  may  have  been  the  errors,  the  follies,  or 
the  crimes  of  the  Jesuits  (individually  or  collectively),  while 
playing  their  part  in  the  devious  politics  and  diplomacy  of 
the  Old  World,  it  is  generally  conceded  that  their  labors  in 

*  See  note  in  the  next  succeeding  chapter. 


Notice  of  the  Jesuits.  381 

the  New  were  prompted  by  a  spirit  of  genuine  philanthropy. 
Robertson,  the  eminent  historian,  in  alluding  to  their  opera- 
tions in  America,  and  particularly  among  the  aborigines  of 
Paraguay,  remarks : 

"  It  is  in  the  New  World  that  the  Jesuits  have  ex- 
hibited the  most  wonderful  display  of  their  abilities,  and 
have  contributed  most  effectually  to  the  benefits  of  the 
human  species.  The  (European)  conquerors  of  that  quarter 
of  the  globe  acted  at  first  as  if  they  had  nothing  in  view 
but  to  plunder,  to  enslave,  and  to  exterminate  its  inhabit- 
ants. The  Jesuits  alone  made  humanity  the  object  of  their 
settling  there.  They  set  themselves  to  instruct  and  to  civil- 
ize the  savages.  .  .  .  But  even  in  this  meritorious  ef- 
fort for  the  good  of  mankind,  the  genius  and  spirit  of  the 
order  have  mingled  and  are  discernible."  * 

With  reference  to  the  zeal  of  the  Jesuits  as  champions 
of  the  Church  of  Rome,  and  to  their  qualifications  as  teach- 
ers and  missionaries,  Breese  finely  writes  : 

"They  became  most  useful  auxiliaries  to  the  pastoral 
clergy  in  those  times  of  the  Church's  greatest  need.  They 
labored  with  untiring  zeal  and  industry  in  defending  the 
faith,  then  so  violently  assailed  by  Luther  and  his  associates, 
and  in  propagating  it  in  the  countries  of  the  heathen. 

"  As  spiritual  teachers  they  had  no  equals ;  for  they 
possessed  all  the  learning  of  the  age,  and  being  in  high 
favor  with  the  pope,  they  easily  became  the  conscience 
keepers  of  kings  and  nobles.  Their  arrogance  and  pre- 
sumption, therefore,  became  excessive,  and  the  dark  and 
complicated  intrigues  of  European  politics  found  in  them 
able,  wily,  persevering  actors.  In  every  royal  court  they 
possessed  some  power.  Schools  and  colleges  were  founded 
and  controlled  by  them,  and  schemes  of  future  aggrandize- 
ment planned.  .  .  . 

"  In  the  plentitude  of  their  power,  no  men  on  earth 
possessed  higher  qualifications  for  heathen  conversion  than 
they ;  for  to  their  learning  was  added  zeal,  fortitude  and 
enthusiasm,  acute  observation  and  great  address,  and  a  re- 

*  Robertson's  Charles  V.,  Book  VI. 


382  Occurrences  in  Lower  Louisiana. 

markable  faculty  for  ingratiating  themselves  with  the 
simple  natives  of  every  clime  and  winning  their  confidence. 
They  were  meek  and  humble  when  necessary,  and  their  re- 
ligious fervor  inspired  them  with  a  contempt  of  danger, 
and  nerved  them  to  meet  and  to  overcome  the  most  ap- 
palling obstacles.  Alike  to  them  were  the  chilling  wintry 
blasts,  the  summer's  heat,  the  pestilence  or  the  scalping 
knife,  the  angry  billows  of  the  ocean  and  the  raging  storm  ; 
they  dreaded  none."* 

But  having  fallen  under  the  ban  of  the  government  of 
Portugal,  the  Jesuits  were  forcibly  expelled  from  that 
kingdom  in  the  year  1759.  In  like  manner  they  were  ban- 
ished from  the  realm  of  France  in  1764,  and  from  Spain, 
Naples  and  Parma,  in  1767.  In  December,  1768,  the  Bour- 
bon courts  of  France,  Spain,  Naples  and  Parma  united  in  a 
formal  demand  upon  the  Pope  for  the  entire  abolishment 
of  the  order ;  and  on  July  21,  1773,  Pope  Clement  XIV. 
issued  the  famous  brief,  Dominus  ac  Redemptor  noster,  by 
which  the  Company  or  Society  of  Jesus  was  declared  sup- 
pressed in  all  the  countries  of  Christendom.  The  activity 
of  individual  members  of  the  order,  however,  was  not 
thereby  abated,  nor  was  its  vitality  permanently  impaired. 
They  continued  their  teachings  in  private,  and  strove 
against  the  liberal  tendency  of  the  times. 

Attempts  to  revive  the  order  under  other  names  were 
made  in  1794,  when  the  ex-Jesuits  DeBroglie  and  De 
Tournly  founded  the  "  Society  of  the  Sacred  Heart,"  and 
in  1798,  when  Paccarani  established  the  "  Society  of  the 
Faith  of  Jesus."  This  last,  despite  the  defection  of  its 
founder,  maintained  its  organization,  and  its  members 
formed  the  nucleus  of  the  restored  society  in  France.  The 
prospects  of  general  restoration  at  length  dawned  with  the 
the  Pontificate  of  Pius  VII.  in  1800.  Having  been  solic- 
ited thereto  by  Ferdinand  IV.,  he  authorized  the  introduc- 
tion of  the  order  into  the  kingdom  of  the  Two  Sicilies  in 
1804,  and  on  the  7th  of  August,  1814,  he  issued  the  bull 
of  restoration,  Solicitude  Omnium  Ecdesiarum.^ 

*  "  Early  History  of  111.,"  pp.  69,  70. 

t  American  Encyclopedia  (1874),  Vol.  IX.,  p.  632. 


The  Jesuit  Relations.  383 

Since  their  revival  the  Jesuits,  while  every-where  meet- 
ing with  prejudice  and  opposition,  and  experiencing  all  the 
vicissitudes  of  good  and  ill  fortune,  have  managed  to  re- 
gain their  former  footing  in  most  of  the  countries  of 
Christendom ;  and,  to-day,  though  much  less  dreaded  than 
formerly,  they  are  more  numerous,  if  not  more  powerful 
and  influential,  than  ever  before. 

On  account  of  the  long,  dark  cloaks  or  robes  worn  by 
the  Jesuit  missionaries,  they  were  universally  known 
among  the  North  American  Indians  as  the  "  Black  Gowns," 
and  their  officiating  priests  as  the  "  White  Capes."  The 
Recollet  or  Franciscan  Fathers,  in  allusion,  to  the  gray 
color  of  their  outward  apparel,  were  called  the  "  Gray 
Gowns." 


"The  Jesuits  (writes  Mr.  .Butterfield,  in  his  work  already  cited), 
intent  upon  pushing  their  fields  of  labor  far  into  the  heart  of  the  conti- 
nent, let  slip  no  opportunity,  after  their  arrival  upon  the  Saint  Law- 
rence, to  inform  themselves  concerning  ulterior  regions,  and  the  infor- 
mation thus  obtained  was  noted  down  by  them.  They  minutely 
described,  during  a  period  of  forty  years,  beginning  with  the  year  1632, 
the  various  tribes  that  they  came  in  contact  with ;  a'nd  their  hopes  and 
fears  as  to  Christianizing  them  were  freely  expressed.  Accounts  of 
their  journeys  were  elaborated  upon,  and  their  missionary  work  put 
upon  record.  Prominent  persons,  as  well  as  important  events,  shared 
their  attention.  Details  concerning  the  geography  of  the  country  were 
also  written  out.  The  intelligence  thus  collected  was  sent  every  sum- 
mer by  the  superiors  to  the  Provincials  at  Paris,  where  it  was  yearly 
published  in  the  French  language.  Taken  together,  these  publications 
constitute  what  are  known  as  the  '  Jesuit  Relations.' " 

They  were  collected,  edited  and  republished  in  French,  under  the 
auspices  of  the  Canadian  government,  by  M.  Augustin  Cote,  at  Quebec, 
1858,  in  three  large  volumes.  Vol.  I  contains  twelve  relations  of  the 
dates  1611,  1626  and  1632-1641 ;  Vol.  II,  fourteen  relations,  dated  1642- 
1655;  Vol.  Ill,  seventeen  relations,  dated  1656-1672.  The  relations  of 
each  year  are  paged  separately,  and  form  forty-three  distinct  memoirs. 
Besides  the  above,  there  are  some  separate  publications  of  a  later  date 
than  1672. 


884  •  Illinois  Under  British  Domination. 


CHAPTER   XX. 

1764-1778. 
ILLINOIS    UNDER    THE    BRITISH    DOMINATION. 

We  now  return  once  more  to  the  Illinois.  In  the 
month  of  June,  1764,  on  the  resignation  and  withdrawal  of 
M.  Neyon  de  Villiers  from  Fort  Chartres,  the  command 
of  this  stronghold  was  devolved  upon  Louis  St.  Ange  de 
Bellerive,  who  had  arrived  from  Post  Vincennes  to  receive 
it.  He  was  a  veteran  Canadian  officer,  possessed  of  rare 
tact  and  ripe  experience,  and  in  his  early  manhood  had 
formed  one  of  Charlevoix'  escort  in  his  travels  through 
the  West.  As  ad  interim  commandant  of  the  fortress,  St. 
Ange's  position  was  both  insecure  and  difficult  to  fill.  It 
required  no  ordinary  skill  and  address  to  save  the  isolated 
French  settlements  from  being  embroiled  in  renewed  war- 
fare with  the  English  forces  on  the  one  hand,  and  from 
massacre  by  the  hordes  of  restless  savages  that  surrounded 
them  on  the  other.  He  had  been  advised  by  his  own  gov- 
ernment of  the  treaty  of  cession  to  England,  and  ordered 
to  surrender  his  post  on  the  arrival  of  her  representatives 
to  claim  it.  In  the  meantime  he  was  repeatedly  importuned 
by  deputations  from  the  martial  tribes  to  the  north  and 
eastward,  under  the  domination  of  Pontiac,  for  material 
aid  in  keeping  up  their  futile  struggle  against  the  English, 
and,  moreover,  was  constantly  annoyed  by  the  demands  of 
the  Illinois  Indians  for  arms  and  ammunition.  But  the 
commandant  managed  to  put  oft'  the  importunities  of  the 
natives  from  time  to  time,  with  fair  speeches  and  occasional 
presents,  while  he  anxiously  waited  the  coming  of  an  ade- 
quate British  force  to  relieve  him  from  his  critical  situation. 
Before  yielding  up  his  office  and  authority,  however,  he  in- 
stituted some  prudent  and  salutary  regulations  respecting 


St.  Ange  takes  Command  at  St.  Louis,  Mo.  385 

the  titles  of  the  French  settlers  to  their  lands,  and  other- 
wise aided  him  to  the  extent  of  his  power. 

Evacuating  Fort  Chartres  in  October,  1765,  St.  Ange, 
under  orders  from  the  provincial  executive  at  New  Orleans, 
conducted  his  little  garrison,  of  about  thirty  oflicers  and 
men,  up  and  across  the  Mississippi  River  to  the  embryo 
village  of  St.  Louis.  This  post,  so  named  in  honor  to  Louis 
XV.  of  France,  was  founded  in  February,  1764,  by  Pierre 
Laclede*  Liguest,  and  young  Auguste  Chouteau,  of  the 
firm  of  "  Maxent,  Laclede  &  Company,  merchants  of  New 
Orleans,  who  had  obtained  the  year  before  a  special  license 
from  Governor  Kerlerec  to  trade  with  the  Indians  on  the 
Missouri  River. 

Although  France  had  relinquished  to  Spain  her  terri- 
tory on  the  west  of  the  Mississippi,  no  Spanish  authority 
was  as  yet  established  there,  and  in  January,  1766,  at  the 
request  of  the  principal  inhabitants  of  St.  Louis,  Captain 
St.  Ange  assumed  the  functions  of  military  commandant. 
His  acts  were  approved  by  Aubry,  the  French  commandant- 
general,  and  he  continued  to  exercise  the  duties  of  his  oflice 
until  May  20,  1770,  when  he  was  relieved  by  Lieutenant- 
governor  Don  Pedro  Piernas,  the  first  Spanish  commandant 
of  the  district.  After  that  St.  Ange  was  admitted  into  the 
Spanish  regiment  of  Louisiana,  with  the  same  rank  of  cap- 


*  Pierre  Laclede  was  born  in  the  South  of  France  about  the  year 
1724.  In  1755  he  sailed  to  Louisiana,  and  engaged  extensively  in  mer- 
chandising. On  August  3,  1763,  he  left  New  Orleans  with  his  boat, 
heavily  laden  with  goods,  and  started  up  the  Mississippi.  After  a  short 
stoppage  at  Ste.  Genevieve,  he  proceeded  to  Fort  Cbartres,  whither  he 
arrived  on  the  3d  of  November.  During  the  next  month  he  traveled 
by  land  as  far  as  the  mouth  of  the  Missouri,  selected  and  marked  out 
the  site  for  his  trading  post,  and  then  returned  to  Fort  Chartres  to  spend 
the  rest  of  the  winter.  On  the  opening  of  navigation  in  February,  1764, 
Laclede  sent  Auguste  Chouteau  (then  a  youth  under  age)  in  charge  of 
his  boat,  with  a  company  of  thirty  men  and  boys,  and  with  instructions 
where  to  land  and  make  a  clearing.  Chouteau  landed  at  the  place  desig- 
nated on  the  14th  of  February,  and  the  next  day  put  his  men  to  work. — 
See  "  History  of  St.  Louis  City  and  County,"  by  J.  Thomas  Scharf  (Phil- 
adelphia, 1883),  Vol.  I.,  pp.  66,  67,  note,  and  fragment  of  Chouteau'a 
Journal. 

25 


386  Illinois  Under  British  Domination. 

tain  as  he  had  before  held  under  the  French,  but  on  half 
pay.*  It  has  been  affirmed  that  he  returned  to  Fort  Char- 
tres,  after  the  asserted  death  of  Captain  Stirling,  and  that, 
on  the  solicitation  of  the  English,  he  again  exercised  com- 
mand there  for  a  short  time;  but  this  story  is  wanting  in 
proof  and  probability. 

It  was  in  April,  1769,  while  still  commanding  at  St. 
Louis,  that  St.  Ange  received  an  unexpected  vi,sit  from 
Pontiac,  who  had  been  living  for  three  years  in  sullen  re- 
tirement on  the  river  Maumee,  but  was  now  come  on  some 
unexplained  yet  suspicious  mission  to  the  Illinois.  The 
Indian  chieftain  appeared  at  the  head-quarters  of  the 
French  commandant  arrayed  in  the  uniform  which  had 
been  given  to  him  by  General  Montcalm  in  1759,  and 
which,  it  is  said,  he  never  wore  except  on  occasions  of  cere- 
mony. After  being  hospitably  entertained  at  St.  Louis  for 
several  days,  Pontiac,  contrary  to  the  advice  of  St.  Ange 
and  others  of  the  French  inhabitants,  who  warned  him  of 
the  danger  he  was  incurring,  re-crossed  the  Mississippi, 
with  a  few  of  his  personal  adherents,  to  attend  a  social 
gathering,  or  pow-wow,  of  the  Indians  at  Gahokia.  Upon 
arriving  thither,  he  found  them  engaged  in  a  drinking- 
bout,  and,  with  his  fondness  for  liquor,  soon  became  drunk 
himself.  The  noisy  meeting  broke  up  late  at  night,  when 
he  started  with  some  friends  down  the  long  village  street, 
and  on  the  way  was  heard  singing  medicine  songs,  in  the 
mystic  virtues  of  which  he  seems  to  have  reposed  implicit 
confidence. 

The  visit  of  this  redoubtable  chief  to  the  Illinois  was 
regarded  with  great  distrust  by  the  few  English  residents 
of  the  country,  who  justly  dreaded  his  power  for  evil  over 
the  minds  of  his  fellow  red  men.  At  this  time,  it  appears, 
there  was  in  Cahokia  an  English  trader  named  Williamson, 
who  determined  to  avail  himself  of  the  opportunity  pre- 


*  St.  Ange  de  Bellerive  died  at  the  house  of  Madame  Chouteau,  in  St. 
Louis,  on  the  evening  of  December  26,  1774  (having  executed  his  last 
will  on  the  same  day),  and  was  buried  there  in  the  parish  cemetery. 
He  had  attained  the  ripe  old  age  of  about  seventy-four  years.  See  Bil- 
lon's "Annals  of  St.  Louis,"  p.  128. 


Pontiac's  Last  Visit  and  Death  in  the  Illinois.        387 

sented  to  effect  his  destruction.  For  this  sinister  purpose, 
he  bribed  a  vagrant  Indian  of  the  Kaskaskia  tribe,  for  a 
barrel  of  liquor  and  the  promise  of  further  reward,  to  take 
Pontiac's  life.  The  hired  assassin  accordingly  followed  the 
inebriated  chief  into  the  forest,  and,  gliding  silently  up  be- 
hind him,  stabbed  him  to  the  heart.  Thus  ingloriously 
ended  the  notable  career  of  the  veteran  Pontiac,  whose  ex- 
traordinary ability  as  a  leader  and  organizer  of  the  red  men, 
his  strategy  and  audacity  in  war,  rendered  him  the  terror 
of  the  English,  and  the  typical  hero  of  his  race.  When 
informed  of  this  tragical  occurrence,  which  created  wild 
excitement  in  Cahokia,  Captain  St.  Ange,  mindful  of  his 
former  friendship  for  the  fallen  chief,  caused  his  body  to  be 
shrouded  and  brought  to  St.  Louis,  where  it  was  interred 
with  the  honors  of  war,  near  the  intersection  of  Walnut 
and  Fourth  streets.  No  mound  nor  tablet  marks  his  for- 
gotten grave,  but  his  deeds  are  written,  and  his  name  is 
enduringly  preserved  in  that  of  a  thriving  town  in  Illinois. 
Pontiac  left  several  children,  among  whom  were  two  sons 
of  note  in  their  tribe.* 

The  unfortunate  killing  of  Pontiac — unfortunate  if  he 
was  not  seeking  to  stir  up  another  race  war  with  the  En- 
glish— aroused  intense  animosity  against  the  Illinois  Indians 
on  the  part  of  his  numerous  friends  and  followers  among 
the  more  northern  tribes.  It  was  the  occasion  of  a  re- 
newal of  hostilities  between  the  Sacs  and  Foxes  and  the  Il- 
linois, in  which  the  latter  sustained  heavy  losses  and  were 
finally  driven  south  of  the  Illinois  river.  During  this  ex- 
terminating war,  and  about  the  year  1770,  tradition  says 
that  a  defeated  band  of  Illinois  warriors  took  refuge  on  the 
Rock  of  St.  Louis,  where,  after  a  protracted  siege,  they 
were  starved  into  submission  and  captured,  thus  giving  rise 
to  the  legend  of  the  "  Starved  Rock." 

Just  before  and  during  the  first  years  of  the  English 


*  An  Ottawa  tradition  states  that  Pontiac  took  a  Kaskaskia  wife, 
with  whom  he  had  a  quarrel,  and  that  she  persuaded  her  two  brothers 
to  kill  him.  But  see  Parkman's  "  History  of  the  Conspiracy  of  Pontiac" 
(4fh  ed.,  1868,  pp.  571,  572,  notes),  where  the  various  accounts  of  the 
great  Indian's  death  are  mentioned  and  discussed. 


888  Illinois  Under  British  Domination. 

domination,  there  was  a  large  exodus  of  the  French  inhab- 
itants from  Illinois.  Such,  in  fact,  was  their  dislike  of 
British  rule  that  fully  one-third  of  the  population,  embrac- 
ing the  wealthier  and  more  influential  families,  removed, 
with  their  slaves  and  other  personal  effects,  beyond  the 
Mississippi,  or  down  that  river  to  Natchez  and  New  Or- 
leans. Some  of  them  settled  at  Ste.  Genevieve,  while 
others,  after  the  example  set  by  St.  Ange,  took  up  their 
abode  in  the  village  of  St.  Louis,  which  had  now  become 
a  depot  for  the  fur  company  of  Louisiana.  From  the  im- 
petus thus  received,  as  well  as  from  its  pleasant  and  ad- 
vantageous situation  for  general  trade,  St.  Louis  soon 
outstripped  the  older  French  settlements  on  the  eastern 
side  of  the  Mississippi.  Under  successive  mild  adminis- 
trations (French  and  Spanish),  the  village  quietly  grew  and 
flourished,  meeting  with  but  few  drawbacks,  saving  the  at- 
tack by  northern  Indians,  in  May,  1780,  the  destructive  in- 
undation in  1785,*  and  the  epidemic  of  1801.  It  was  not 
until  after  the  Indian  incursion  that  St.  Louis  was  stock- 
aded, and  a  regular  fortification  constructed  at  the  upper 
end  of  the  village.  In  1770  there  were  one  hundred 
wooden  and  fifteen  stone  buildings  in  the  place.  But  no 
church  edifice  existed  there  prior  to  the  year  1776,  except 
a  small  log  chapel  which  stood  upon  what  was  known  as 
the  Church  Block.  In  1794  the  garrison  and  government 
house,  situate  on  the  second  rise  or  bank  of  the  village,  was 
completed  and  occupied.  In  March,  1804,  when  the  govern- 
ment of  the  country  west  of  the  Mississippi  was  transferred 
to  the  United  States,  the  number  of  houses  in  St.  Louis  had 
increased  to  one  hundred  and  thirty  of  wood,  and  fifty-one 
of  stone,  making  a  total  of  one  hundred  and  eighty-one,  of 
which  one  hundred  and  sixty  were  dwelling  houses.  These 
were  one  and  two  story  structures,  built  upon  the  first  bank 
of  the  river,  with  little  or  no  pretensions  to  architectural 
embellishment.  The  population  of  the  place  was  then  rated 

*The  unusual  inundation  of  1785  was  caused  by  the  annual  floods 
in  the  Mississippi  and  Missouri  rivers  occurring  together.  This  was 
known  as  Uannde  des  grands  faux,  or  "  the  year  of  the  great  waters." 


Early  Upbuilding  of  St.  Louis.  389 

at  nine  hundred  and  twenty-five  souls.*  French  influence 
was  long  dominant  in  St.  Louis,  and  tended  to  retard  her 
early  development ;  but,  in  modern  years,  her  growth  and 
expansion  into  a  great  commercial  and  industrial  city  have 
been  something  phenomenal. 

At  the  close  of  the  year  1765,  the  whole  number  of  in- 
habitants of  foreign  birth  or  lineage,  in  Illinois,  excluding 
the  negro  slaves,  and  including  those  living  at  Post  Vincent 
on  the  Wabash,  did  not  much  exceed  two  thousand  persons  J 
and,  during  the  entire  period  of  British  possession,  the  in- 
flux of  alien  population  hardly  more  than  kept  pace  with 
the  outflow.  Scarcely  any  Englishmen,  other  than  the 
officers  and  troops  composing  the  small  garrisons,  a  few  en- 
terprising traders  and  some  favored  land  speculators,  were 
then  to  be  seen  in  the  Illinois,  and  no  Americans  came 
hither,  for  the  purpose  of  settlement,  until  after  the  con- 
quest of  the  country  by  Colonel  Clark.  All  the  settlements 
still  remained  essentially  French,  with  whom  there  was  no 
taste  for  innovation  or  change.  But  the  blunt  and  sturdy 
Anglo-American  had  at  last  gained  a  firm  foot-hold  on  the 
banks  of  the  great  Father  of  Rivers,  and  a  new  type  of 
civilization,  instinct  with  energy,  enterprise  and  progress, 
was  about  to  be  introduced  into  the  broad  and  fertile  Valley 
of  the  Mississippi. f 

In  Captain  Pittman's  valuable  work,  from  which  we 
have  repeatedly  quoted,  is  found  a  comprehensive  account 
of  the  Illinois  country  and  its  inhabitants,  with  sketches  in 
detail  of  the  several  French  posts  and  villages  situated 
therein,  as  personally  viewed  by  him  in  1766-7.  Pittman 
was  an  officer  of  the  British  Royal  Engineers,  and  was  first 
sent  out  with  a  regiment  to  Pensacola,  Florida,  in  1763. 
From  Pensacola  he  went  to  Mobile,  and  thence  to  New 
Orleans ;  after  which  he  passed  up  the  Mississippi,  stopping 
at  Natchez,  and  appears  to  have  reached  the  Illinois  early 
in  the  year  1766.  Returning  to  Florida,  he  thence  sailed 
for  England  in  1768.  His  book,  we  are  told,  was  originally 


*  Billon's  Annals  of  Early  St.  Louis. 

t  Davidson's  and  Stuve's  History,  1st  ed.,  p.  163. 

4 


390  Illinois  Under  British  Domination. 

written  at  the  request  and  for  the  use  of  the  Secretary  of 
State  for  the  Colonies.  It  contains,  in  a  compact  form, 
much  useful  arid  'reliable  information  (nowhere  else  to  be 
found)  concerning  the  Mississippi  Valley  and  its  people  at 
that  transition  period.* 

Pittman  describes  the  country  of  the  Illinois  as  then 
"bounded  by  the  Mississippi  on  the  west,  by  the  river. Illi- 
nois on  the  north,  by  the  rivers  Ouabache  and  Miamis  on 
the  east,  and  by  the  Ohio  on  the  south."  Treating  of  the 
villages  seriatim,  and  beginning  with  Kaskaskia,  he  writes: 

"  The  village  of  Notre  Dame  de  Cascasquias  is  by  far  the 
most  considerable  settlement  in  the  country  of  the  Illinois, 
as  well  from  its  number  of  inhabitants  as  from  its  advan- 
tageous situation.  It  stands  on  the  side  of  a  small  river, 
which  is  about  eighty  yards  wide,  and  empties  itself  with 
a  gentle  current  into  the  Mississippi,  near  two  leagues  below 
the  village.  This  river  is  a  secure  port  for  the  large  bateaux 
which  lie  so  close  to  its  banks  as  to  load  and  unload  with- 
out the  least  trouble,  and  at  all  seasons  of  the  year  there  is 
water  enough  for  them  to  come  up.  .  .  .  Another 
great  advantage  that  Cascasquias  receives  from  its  river  is 
the  facility  with  which  mills  for  corn  and  plank  may  be 
erected  on  it.  Mons.  Paget  was  the  first  who  introduced 
water-mills  in  this  country,  and  he  constructed  a  very  fine 
one  on  the  river  Cascasquias,  which  was  both  for  grinding 
corn  and  sawing  boards ;  it  lies  about  one  mile  from  the 
village.  The  mill  proved  fatal  to  him,  being  killed  as  he 
was  working  in  it  with  two  negroes,  by  a  party  of  Chero- 
kees,  in  1764. 

"The  principal  buildings  here  are  the  Church,f  and 
Jesuit's  House,  which  (latter)  has  a  small  chapel  adjoining 
it;  these,  as  well  as  some  other  houses  in  the  village,  are 
built  of  stone,  and,  considering  this  part  of  the  world, 


*  Vide  "The  Present  State  of  the  European  Settlements  on  the  Mis- 
sissippi ;  with  a  Geographical  Description  of  that  River,  illustrated  by 
Plans  and  Draughts."  By  Captain  Philip  Pittman.  London,  1770. 
Quarto,  pp.  107. 

t  The  bell  belonging  to  this  quaint  old  church  was  cast  at  La  Ro- 
chelle,  France,  in  1741. 


Pittmaris  Account  of  the  French  Settlements.         391 

make  a  very  good  appearance.  The  Jesuit's  plantation 
consisted  of  two  hundred  and  forty  arpents  (an  arpent  be- 
ing 85-100  of  an  acre)  of  cultivated  land,  a  very  good  stock 
of  cattle,  and  a  brewery ;  which  was  sold  by  the  French 
commandant,  after  the  country  was  ceded  to  the  English, 
for  the  Crown,  in  consequence  of  the  suppression  of  the 
order.*  Mons.  (Jean  Baptiste)  Beauvais  was  the  pur- 
chaser, who  is  the  richest  of  the  English  subjects  in  this 
country.  He  keeps  eighty  slaves  ;  he  furnished  eighty-six 
thousand  weight  of  flour  to  the  king's  magazine,  which 
was  only  part  of  the  harvest  he  reaped  in  one  year.  Sixty- 
five  families  reside  in  this  village,  besides  merchants,  other 
casual  people,  and  slaves. 

"  The  fort,  which  was  burnt  down  in  October,  1766, 
stood  on  the  summit  of  a  high  rock  opposite  the  village, 
and  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river.  It  was  an  oblong 
quadrangle,  of  which  the  extreme  polygon  measured  two 
hundred  and  ninety  by  two  hundred  and  fifty-one  feet.  It 
was  built  of  very  thick  square  timbers,  and  dovetailed  at 
the  angles.  An  officer  and  twenty  soldiers  are  quartered 
in  the  village.  The  officer  governs  the  inhabitants  under 
the  direction  of  the  commandant  at  Fort  Chartres.  Here 
are  also  two  companies  of  (French)  militia. 

"  La  Prairie  des  Roches  f  is  about  seventeen  (fifteen) 
miles  from  Cascasquias.  It  is  a  small  village,  consisting  of 
twelve  dwelling  houses,  all  of  which  are  inhabited  by  as 
many  families.  Here  is  a  little  chapel,  formerly  a  chapel  of 
ease  to  the  church  at  Fort  Chartres.  The  inhabitants  are 
very  industrious,  and  raise  a  great  deal  of  corn  and  every 
kind  of  stock.  The  village  is  two  miles  from  Fort  Char- 

*  The  only  Jesuit  priest  allowed  to  remain  in  the  Illinois  was  Sebas- 
tian Louis  Meurin,  and  he  was  required  to  sign  a  paper  obligating  him- 
self not  to  acknowledge  any  other  superior  than  that  of  the  Capuchins 
at  New  Orleans.  (Shea's  "Catholic  Church  in  Old  Colonial  Days.") 
Father  Meurin  died  at  Prairie  du  Rocher  in  1778.  He  was  a  learned 
man  and  faithful  missionary,  who  left  in  manuscript  a  large  dictionary 
of  the  Indian  and  French  languages. 

t  Prairie  du  Rocher  is  the  only  one  of  these  old  French  villages  that 
has  continued  to  flourish  until  the  present  day.  In  1890,  according  to 
tlie  United  States  census,  it  contained  a  population  of  408  souls. 


392  Illinois  Under  British  Domination. 

tree.  It  takes  its  name  from  its  situation,  being  built  under 
a  rock  that  runs  parallel  with  the  river  Mississippi,  at  a 
league  distance,  for  forty  miles  up.  Here  is  a  company  of 
militia,  the  captain  of  which  regulates  the  police  of  the 
village." 

After  giving  a  particular  description  of  Fort  Chartres,! 
Pittman's  account  continues :  u  In  the  year  1764,  there  were 
about  forty  families  in  the  village  near  the  fort,  and  a  par- 
ish church  served  by  a  Franciscan  friar,  dedicated  to  St. 
Anne.  In  the  following  year,  when  the  English  took  pos- 
session of  the  country,  they  abandoned  their  houses  and 
settled  at  the  village  on  the  west  side  of  the  Mississippi, 
choosing  to  continue  under  the  French  government. 

"  Saint  Phillippe  is  a  small  village  about  five  miles 
from  Fort  Chartres,  on  the  road  to  Kaoquias.  There  are 
about  sixteen  houses  and  a  small  church  standing ;  all  the 
inhabitants,  except  the  captain  of  the  militia,  deserted  it 
in  1765,  and  went  to  the  French  side  (Missouri).  The  cap- 
tain of  the  militia  has  about  twenty  slaves,  a  good  stock  of 
cattle,  and  a  water-mill  for  corn  and  planks.  This  village 
stands  on  a  very  fine  meadow,  about  one  mile  from  the 
Mississippi. 

"  The  village  of  Saint  Famille  de  Kaoquias  (Cahokia) 
is  generally  reckoned  fifteen  leagues  from  Fort  Chartres, 
and  six  leagues  below  the  mouth  of  the  Missouri.  It  stands 
near  the  side  of  the  Mississippi,  and  is  marked  from  the 
river  by  an  island  (Duncan's)  two  leagues  long.  The  vil- 
lage is  opposite  the  center  of  this  island ;  it  is  long  and 
straggling,  being  three-fourths  of  a  mile  from  one  end  to  the 
other.  It  contains  forty -five  dwelling  houses,  and  a  church 
near  the  center.  The  situation  is  not  well  chosen,  as  in 
the  floods  it  is  generally  overflowed  two  or  three  feet  deep. 
This  was  the  first  settlement  on  the  Mississippi.  The  land 
was  purchased  of  the  savages  by  a  few  Canadians,  some  of 
whom  married  women  of  the  Kaoquias  nation,  and  others 
brought  wives  from  Canada,  and  then  resided  there,  leaving 
their  children  to  succeed  them.  The  inhabitants  of  this 


*See  ante,  Chapter  XVI.,  p.  314. 


Pittmaris  Account  of  the  French  Settlements.         393 

place  depend  more  on  hunting  and  their  Indian  trade  than 
on  agriculture,  as  they  scarcely  raise  corn  enough  for  their 
own  consumption ;  they  have  great  plenty  of  poultry,  and 
good  stocks  of  horned  cattle. 

"  The  mission  of  St.  Sulpice  had  a  very  fine  plantation 
here,  and  an  excellent  house  built  on  it.  They  sold  this 
estate,  and  a  very  good  mill  for  corn  and  planks,  to  a 
Frenchman  (M.  Gerardine),  who  chose  to  remain  under  the 
English  government.  They  also  disposed  of  thirty  negroes 
and  a  good  stock  of  cattle  to  different  people  in  the  coun- 
try, and  returned  to  France  in  1764.  What  is  called  the 
fort,  is  a  small  house  standing  in  the  center  of  the  village. 
It  differs  nothing  from  the  other  houses,  except  in  being  one 
of  the  poorest.  It  was  formerly  inclosed  with  high  pali- 
sades, but  these  were  torn  down  and  burnt.  Indeed,  a  fort 
at  this  place  could  be  of  little  use."  * 

Concerning  the  soil,  products,  commerce,  and  aborigi- 
nes of  the  country,  Pittman  says : 

"  The  soil  of  this  country,  in  general,  is  very  rich  and 
luxuriant ;  it  produces  all  kinds  of  European  grains,  hops, 
hemp,  flax,  cotton,  and  tobacco,  and  European  fruits  come 
to  great  perfection.  The  inhabitants  make  wine  of  the 
wild  grapes,  which  is  very  inebriating,  and  is,  in  color  and 
taste,  very  like  the  red  wine  of  Provence. 

"  In  the  late  wars,  New  Orleans  and  the  lower  parts  of 
Louisiana  were  supplied  with  flour,  beef,  wines,  hams,  and 
other  provisions  from  this  country.  At  present,  its  com- 
merce is  mostly  confined  to  the  peltry  and  furs,  which  are 
got  in  traffic  from  the  Indians ;  for  which  are  received  in 
return  such  European  commodities  as  are  necessary  to  carry 
on  that  commerce  and  the  support  of  the  inhabitants. 

*  "  The  old  fort  has  long  since  disappeared  ;  no  vestige  of  it  can  now 
be  seen.  The  church  still  stands,  and  is  probably  the  oldest  house  of 
worship  west  of  the  Alleghany  Mountains.  The  village,  instead  of 
being  '  near  the  side  of  the  Mississippi.'  is  nearly  a  inile  to  the  east  of 
it.  This  change  was  mainly  wrought  by  the  general  flood  of  1844."— 
History  of  St.  Clair  Co.,  111.,  1881,  p.  327.  "The  old  court-house  was 
built  (by  the  Americans)  in  1795,  or  thereabouts,  at  which  time  Cahokia 
became  the  county  seat.  In  1814  the  county  seat  was  removed  to  Belle- 
ville."—Ibid.,  p.  329. 


394  Illinois  Under  British  Domination. 

"  The  principal  Indian  nations  in  this  country  are  the 
Cascasquias,  Kahoquias,  Mitchigamias,  and  Peoyas ;  these 
four  tribes  are  generally  called  the  Illinois  Indians.  Except 
in  hunting  seasons,  they  reside  near  the  English  settlements 
in  this  country.  They  are  a  poor,  debauched  and  dastardly 
people.  They  count  about  three  hundred  and  fifty  warriors. 
ThePanquichas(Piankashaws),Mascoutins,  Miamies,  Kick- 
apous,  and  Pyatonons,  though  not  very  numerous,  are  brave 
and  warlike  people." 

With  regard  to  the  hamlet  of  Prairie  du  Pont,  of 
which  Pittman  makes  no  mention,  Reynolds  gives  us  this 
information : 

"  The  village  of  Prairie  du  Pont  was  settled  by  emi- 
grants from  the  other  French  villages,  in  the  year  1760, 
and  was  a  prosperous  settlement.  It  is  stated  that  this  vil- 
lage, in  the  year  1765,  contained  fourteen  families.  They 
had  their  common  field  and  commons,  which  were  con- 
firmed to  them  by  the  government  of  the  United  States. 
This  village  is  situated  about  one  mile  south  of  Cahokia, 
and  extended  south  from  the  creek  of  the  same  name  for 
some  distance.  It  is  a  kind  of  suburb  to  Cahokia."* 

In  order  to  further  illustrate  the  history  of  the  French 
settlements  in  Illinois,  it  is  now  requisite  to  give  a  succinct 
narration  of  the  English  rule  over  them.  Captain  Thomas 
Stirling  began  the  military  government  of  the  country  on 
October  10,  1765,  with  fair  and  liberal  concessions,  calcu- 
lated to  secure  the  good-will  and  loyalty  of  the  French- 
Canadians,  and  to  stay  their  further  exodus;  but  his  ad- 
ministration was  not  of  long  duration.!  On  the  4th  of  the 
ensuing  December,  he  was  succeeded  by  Major  Robert 
Farmer,  who  had  arrived  from  Mobile  with  a  detachment 
of  the  34th  British  infantry.  In  the  following  year,  after 


*  Reynold's  Pioneer  History,  second  edition,  p.  67. 

tit  appears  that  Captain  Stirling  did  not  die  while  in  command  at 
Fort  Chartres,  as  related  by  the  earlier  historians  of  Illinois.  On  the 
contrary,  he  afterward  fought  his  way  up  to  a  brigadier-generalship  in 
the  War  of  the  Revolution,  and  finally  died  in  England,  in  1808,  a  bar- 
onet and  a  general  of  high  rank. — Moses'  History  of  Illinois  (Chicago, 

),  Vol.  I.,  p.  137;  New  York  Colonial  Docs.,  VII.,  786,  note. 


Successive  English  Commandants  in  Illinois.          395 

exercising  an  arbitrary  authority  over  these  isolated  and 
feeble  settlements,  Major  Farmer  was  displaced  by  Colonel 
Edward  Cole,  who  had  commanded  a  regiment  under 
Wolfe,  at  Quebec.  Colonel  Cole  remained  in  command  at 
Fort  Chartres  about  eighteen  months ;  but  the  position 
was  not  congenial  to  him.  The  climate  was  unfavorable  to 
his  health,  and  the  privations  of  life  at  a  frontier  post  in- 
creased his  discontent.  He  was  accordingly  relieved  at  his 
own  request,  early  in  the  year  1768.*  His  successor  was 
Colonel  John  Reed,  who  proved  a  bad  exchange  for  the 
poor  colonists.  He  soon  became  so  notorious  for  his  mili- 
tary oppressions  of  the  people  that  he  was  removed,  and 
gave  place  to  Lieutenant-Colonel  John  Wilkins,  of  the 
18th,  or  royal  regiment  of  Ireland,  who  had  formerly  com- 
manded at  Fort  Niagara. 

Colonel  Wilkins  arrived  from  Philadelphia  and  as- 
sumed the  command  September  5, 1768.  He  brought  out 
with  him  seven  companies  of  his  regiment  for  garrison 
duty ;  but  many  of  these  soldiers  succumbed  to  the  mala- 
rious diseases  of  the  country.  Having  been  authorized  by 
General  Gage  to  institute  a  court  of  justice  in  Illinois  for 
the  civil  administration  of  the  laws,  Wilkins  issued  his 
proclamation  to  that  eifect  on  the  21st  of  November.  He 
next  appointed  seven  magistrates  or  judges,  who  were  to 
form  a  court,  and  to  hold  monthly  sessions  for  the  trial  and 
adjudication  of  all  controversies  arising  among  the  people 
in  relation  to  debts  or  property.  The  first  term  of  this 
honorable  court  was  convened  at  EWt  Chartres,  December 
6,  1768.  It  was  the  first  court  of  common  law  jurisdiction 
established  in  the  Mississippi  Valley;  and,  although  called 
by  courtesy  a  common  law  court,  it  was,  in  fact,  a  very 
nondescript  tribunal. 

"  It  was  a  court  of  first  and  last  resort ;  no  appeal  lay 
from  it.  It  was  the  highest  as  well  as  the  lowest,  the  only 
court  in  the  country.  It  proved  any  thing  but  popular,  and 
it  is  just  possible  that  the  worthy  judges  themselves,  taken 
from  among  the  people,  may  not  have  been  the  most  en- 


;  Moses'  History  of  111.,  Vol.  I.,  p.  138. 


396  Illinois  Under  British  Domination. 

lightened  exponents  of  the  law.  The  people  were  under 
the  laws  of  England,  but  the  trial  by  jury — that  great  bul- 
wark of  the  subject's  right,  coeval  with  the  common  law 
and  reiterated  in  the  British  constitution — the  French  mind 
was  unable  to  appreciate,  particularly  in  civil  trials.  They 
thought  it  very  inconsistent  that  the  English  should  refer 
nice  questions  relating  to  the  rights  of  property  to  a  tribu- 
nal composed  of  tailors,  shoemakers,  or  other  artisans  and 
trades-people,  for  determination,  rather  than  to  judges 
learned  in  the  law.  While  thus,  under  the  English  admin- 
istration, civil  jurisprudence  was  sought  to  be  brought 
nearer'to  the  people,  it  failed,  because,  owing  to  the  teach- 
ings, and  perhaps  genius  of  the  French  mind,  it  could  not 
be  made  of  the  people. 

"  For  nearly  ninety  years  had  these  settlements  been 
ruled  by  the  dicta  and  decisions  of  theocratic  and  military 
tribunals,  absolute  in  both  civil  and  criminal  cases ;  but  as 
may  well  be  imagined,  in  a  post  so  remote,  where  there  was 
neither  wealth,  culture,  nor  fashion,  all  incentives  to  oppress 
the  colony  remained  dormant,  and  the  extraordinary  powers 
of  the  priests  and  commandants  were  (generally)  exercised 
in  a  patriarchal  spirit,  which  gained  the  love  and  implicit 
confidence  of  the  people.  Believing  that  their  rulers  were 
ever  right,  they  gave  themselves  no  trouble  or  pains  to  re- 
view their  acts.  Indeed,  many  years  later,  when  Illinois 
had  passed  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  United  States,  the 
perplexed  inhabitants,  unable  to  comprehend  the  to  them 
complicated  machinery  of  republicanism,  begged  to  be  de- 
livered from  the  intolerable  burden  of  self-government, 
and  again  subjected  to  the  will  of  a  military  command- 
ant."* 

Subsequent  to  the  treaty  of  Paris,  on  October  7,  1763, 
Goorge  III.,  King  of  Great  Britain,  issued  his  proclama- 
tion for  the  government  of  the  country  wrested  from  France 
in  America,  and  dividing  it  into  four  provinces.  In  this 
proclamation  he  prohibited  his  subjects  from  "  making  any 
purchases  or  settlements  whatever,  or  taking  possession  of 

*  Davidson  &  Stuve's  Hist.  111.,  1st  ed.,  p.  165. 


Land  Policy  of  the  English  Government.  397 

any  of  the  wild  lands  beyond  the  sources  of  any  of  the 
rivers  which  fall  into  the  Atlantic  Ocean  from  the  west  or 
north-west."  The  object  of  this  inhibition  was  to  reserve 
the  vast  and  uncultivated  region  of  the  West  as  a  hunting- 
ground  for  the  use  of  the  Indians,  and,  by  the  navigation 
of  the  great  lakes,  to  place  their  enormous  fur  and  peltry 
trade  within  English  control.  The  policy  of  the  home 
government  then  was  to  confine  the  English  colonies  to  the 
Atlantic  slope,  within  easy  reach  of  the  English  shipping, 
which  would  be  more  conducive  to  trade  and  commerce; 
whereas  the  granting  of  large  bodies  of  land  in  the  remote 
interior  would  tend  to  separate  the  colonists,  and  render 
them  more  independent  and  difficult  to  govern. 

But  it  was  soon  apparent  that  this  narrow  and  re- 
strictive policy  of  the  government  could  not  be  strictly  en- 
forced. Indeed,  one  of  the  most  noticeable  features  of 
Colonel  Wilkins'  administration  was  the  liberality  with 
which  he  parceled  out  large  tracts  of  the  domain  over 
which  he  ruled  to  his  favorites  in  Illinois,  Philadelphia, 
and  elsewhere,  without  other  consideration  than  requiring 
them  to  re-convey  to  him  a  certain  interest  in  the  same. 
By  the  aforesaid  proclamation  of  the  king,  the  taking  or 
purchasing  of  lands  from  the  Indians  in  any  of  the  Ameri- 
can colonies  was  strictly  forbidden,  without  special  permis- 
sion being  first  had  and  obtained.  Under  this  prohibition, 
Colonel  Wilkins,  and  some  of  his  predecessors  in  office, 
treated  the  lands  of  the  French  absentees  in  Illinois  as  for- 
feited, and  granted  them  away ;  but  these  transactions 
never  received  the  sanction  of  the  King,  and  by  no  royal 
or  judicial  act  did  their  property  become  escheated  to  the 
British  crown.* 

Lieutenant  Colonel  Wilkins'  government  of  the  Illinois 
country  eventually  became  unpopular,  and  specific  charges 
were  preferred  against  him,  including  a  misappropriation 
of  the  public  funds.  He  asked  for  an  official  investigation, 
claiming  that  he  was  able  to  justify  his  public  conduct. 


*  Davidson  &  Stuve's  Hist.  Til.,  let  ed.,  p.  166. 


398  Illinois  Under  British  Domination. 

But  lie  was  deposed  from  office  in  September,  1771,  and 
sailed  for  Europe  in  July  of  the  following  year.* 

Captain  Hugh  Lord,  of  the  18th  regiment,  became 
Wilkins'  successor  at  Fort  Chartres,  and  continued  in  com- 
mand until  the  year  1775.  It  was  during  his  incumbency, 
in  the  spring  of  1772,  that  the  great  freshet  occurred  in  the 
Mississippi,  which  undermined  and  partly  destroyed  the 
fortress,  so  that  it  was  abandoned.  The  seat  of  the  local 
government  was  then  removed  to  Kaskaskia,  and  the  gar- 
rison took  up  their  quarters  at  the  old  fort  on  the  rocky 
hill  or  bluff',  over  against  the  town.  This  fort,  as  herein 
before  stated,  had  been  destroyed  by  fire  in  1766,  but  it  was 
npw  repaired  or  reconstructed,  and  was  named  Fort  Gage, 
in  token  of  respect  to  the  British  commander-in-chief  in 
America.  At  this  time  the  British  garrison  here  was  quite 
small,  comprising,  it  is  said,  only  twenty  men  and  one  com- 
missioned officer,  though  there  were  two  companies  of  mili- 
tia in  Kaskaskia  village. 

On  the  2d  of  June,  1774,  Parliament  passed  an  act 
enlarging  and  extending  the  province  of  Quebec  to  the 
Mississippi  River,  so  as  to  include  the  territory  of  the 
Northwest ;  restoring  to  the  people  of  Canada  their  ancient 
laws  in  civil  cases ;  guaranteeing  the  free  exercise  of  their 
religion,  and  rehabilitating  the  Roman  Catholic  clergy 
with  the  privileges  stipulated  in  the  articles  of  capitulation 
at  Montreal  in  1760.  This  act  was  popularly  known  as  the 
"  Quebec  Bill."  It  was  intended  not  only  to  conciliate  the 
French  inhabitants  of  Canada,  and  to  firmly  attach  them 
to  the  English  crown,  but  to  counteract  the  growing  oppo- 
sition to  the  home  government  in  the  American  colonies 
on  the  Atlantic  seaboard.  The  measure  was  a  master 
stroke  of  policy  on  the  part  of  the  British  ministry,  since 
it  allayed  disaffection,  and  tended  to  prevent  the  revolt  of 
the  Canadian  provinces  in  the  War  of  the  Revolution. 

Who  was  the  immediate  successor  of  Captain  Lord 
in  command  of  the  Illinois,  is  not  positively  determined. 
It  appears  from  a  letter  written  by  Governor  Haldimand 

*  Moses'  Hist,  of  111.,  Vol.  I.,  p.  141. 


Kennedy's  River  Voyage.  399 

(July  8,  1781),  that  Captain  Matthew  Johnson  received  a 
salary  of  twelve  hundred  pounds  sterling  for  services  as 
lieutenant-commandant  of  the  Illinois  from  May,  1775,  to 
May,  1781;  but  we  are  not  informed  as  to  where  that 
officer  was  stationed,  or  what  duties  he  performed  other 
than  to  draw  his  pay.* 

It  is  clear,  however,  from  the  "  Governor  Haldimand 
Papers"  (preserved  in  the  Canadian  Archives  at  Ottawa), 
that  Philippe  Francois  de  Rastel  de  Rocheblave  was  in 
command  of  the  British  at  the  fort  near  Kaskaskia  as  early 
as  October,  1776,  and  that  his  conduct  as  such  commandant 
was  approved  by  his  superior,  Sir  Guy  Carleton.*  Roche- 
blave was  a  native  of  Dauphiny,  and  had  been  an  officer  in 
the  French  service,  but  with  the  transfer  of  the  country  to 
Great  Britain  he  changed  his  allegiance,  and  for  this  was 
promoted.  He  resided  for  many  years  in  Kaskaskia,  and 
was  married  there  in  April,  1763,  as  is  shown  by  the  parish 
records. 

In  Imlay's  "  Description  of  the  Western  Territory  of 
North  America,"  published  at  London  in  1797,  is  contained 
the  journal  of  a  river  voyage  made  by  one  Patrick  Ken- 
nedy, with  several  coureurs  des  bois,  in  the  summer  of  1773, 
from  Kaskaskia  village  to  the  head-waters  of  the  Illinois, 
in  search  of  copper  mines.  From  this  curious  and  interest- 
ing journal,  we  condense  the  subjoined  statement  descrip- 
tive of  his  journey,  and  of  the  then  still  wild  country  of 
the  Illinois. 

Kennedy  and  his  party  left  Kaskaskia  on  the  23d  of 
July,  1773,  in  a  large  canoe  or  bateau,  and  on  the  31st  of 
that  month  reached  the  mouth  of  the  Illinois  River,  eighty- 
four  miles  from  Kaskaskia,  and  eighteen  above  the  junction 
of  the  Missouri.  In  ascending  the  Mississippi,  they  passed, 
on  their  right,  the  heavily  timbered  American  Bottom  as 
far  as  to  the  site  of  the  present  Alton,  and  thence  skirted 
the  chain  of  rugged  rocks  and  high  hills,  which  begins  below 
the  Piasa  Bluffs  and  extends  to  and  beyond  the  confluence 
of  the  Illinois.  On  quitting  the  Mississippi  and  enter- 

*  Mose's  History  of  111.,  Vol.  I.,  p.  142. 


400  Illinois   Under  British  Domination. 

ing  the  Illinois,  they  found  the  latter  river  so  low  and  its 
borders  so  full  of  weeds  and  bushes  that  their  progress  was 
much  impeded,  and  they  were  obliged  to  row  their  boat  in 
the  deeper  water  of  the  channel.  The  banks  are  depicted 
by  Kennedy  as  low  on  both  sides ;  the  course  of  the  stream 
as  N.,  N.  E.;  and  the  bottom  land  as  being  well  timbered 
with  pecan,  maple,  ash,  button-wood,  etc.*  "  There  are 
fine  meadows,"  he  tells  us,  "at  a  little  distance  from  the 
river,  the  banks  of  which  do  not  crumble  away  as  do  those 
of  the  Mississippi." 

On  the  first  day  of  August,  after  passing  the  mouth 
of  the  Macoupin,  or  White  Potatoe  Creek,  the  voyagers 
stopped  to  refresh  themselves  at  an  old  wintering  ground 
of  the  Peorias.  In  this  lower  part  of  the  river,  they  en- 
countered several  small  islands,  and  saw  many  buffalo  and 
deer  feeding.  On  the  following  day  they  passed  an  island 
called  Pierre  ct  Fleche,  which  had  its  name  from  a  large  hill 
on  the  west  side  of  the  stream,  where  the  Indians  procured 
the  stone  from  which  they  chipped  their  arrow-heads  and 
gun  flints.  On  the  4th  our  voyagers  passed  the  mouth  of 
the  Sangamo,  or  Sangamon  River,  f  putting  in  from  the 
east,  and  on  the  7th  they  reached  the  southern  extremity 
of  Peoria  Lake ;  concerning  which,  and  the  remains  of  the 
fort  then  standing  there,  Kennedy's  Journal  says: 

"  The  morning  being  foggy,  and  the  river  overgrown 
with  weeds  along  its  sides,  we  could  make  but  little  (head) 
way.  About  twelve  o'clock  we  got  to  the  old  Peoria  fort 
and  village,  on  the  western  shore  of  the  river,  and  at  the 

*  "  The  kinds  of  timber  most  abundant  (in  Illinois)  are  oaks  of 
various  species,  black  and  white  walnut,  ash  of  several  kinds,  elm,  sugar- 
maple,  honey-locust,  hackberry,  linden,  hickory,  cotton-wood,  pecan, 
mulberry,  buckeye,  sycamore,  wild-cherry,  box-elder,  sassafras,  and  per- 
simmon. In  the  southern  and  eastern  parts  of  the  state  are  yellow  pop- 
lar and  beech ;  near  the  Ohio  are  cypress,  and  in  several  counties  are 
clumps  of  yellow  pine  and  cedar.  The  undergrowth  is  redbud,  papaw, 
sumach,  plum,  crab-apple,  grape-vines,  dogwood,  spice-bush,  green- 
brier,  hazel,  etc.  The  alluvial  soil  of  the  rivers  produces  cotton-wood 
and  sycamore  timber  of  amazing  size."— Peck's  Gazetteer  of  Illinois. 

t  To  what  extent,  if  any,  the  Sangamon  was  ever  explored  by  the 
French  does  not  appear  of  record. 


Notice  of  Peoria  Village.  401 

foot  of  a  lake  called  the  Illinois  Lake,  which  is  nineteen 
miles  and  a  half  in  length  and  three  miles  in  breadth.  It 
has  no  rocks,  shoals,  or  perceptible  current.  We  found  the 
stockade  of  this  Peoria  fort  destroyed  by  fire,  but  the  houses 
standing.*  The  summit  on  which  the  fort  stood  commands 
a  fine  prospect  of  the  country  to  the  eastward,  and  up  the 
lake  to  the  point  where  the  river  comes  in  at  the  north  end ; 
to  the  westward  are  large  meadows.  In  the  lake  is  great 
plenty  of  fish,  and  in  particular  sturgeon  and  picamau." 

Pushing  on  up  the  lake  and  river,  Kennedy  and  party 
arrived  at  the  entrance  of  the  Vermilion,  two  hundred  and 
sixty-seven  miles  from  the  mouth  of  the  Illinois,  on  the 
9th  of  August.  The  Vermilion  River  is  described  as  thirty 
yards  wide,  but  with  such  a  rocky  and  uneven  bed  as  not 
to  be  navigable.  A  mile  above  that  the  voyagers  reached 
the  rapids  in  the  Illinois,  and  finding  the  water  too  shallow 
for  their  boat,  they  abandoned  it  and  proceeded  by  land 
about  forty-five  miles  farther.  Having  crossed  a  northern 


*  In  the  above  citation,  no  reference  is  made  to  the  time  when  this 
"old  Peoria  fort"  was  built  by  the  French,  though  it  must  have  been 
subsequent  to  Father  Charlevoix'  visit  (1721),  for  he  makes  no  mention 
of  any  fort  there.  As  to  the  remains  of  Fort  Cr^ve-coeur,  on  the  op- 
posite side  of  the  river,  they  had  disappeared  long  before.  From  the 
time  of  La  Salle  and  Hennepin,  the  southern  extremity  of  Peoria  Lake 
was  a  familiar  locality  to  the  French  voyageurs  and  traders,  as  well  as 
to  the  English  who  followed  in  their  wake.  There  is,  however,  no 
authentic  account,  of  any  continuous  European  settlement  in  this  vicin- 
ity until  1778,  when  the  village  of  La  Ville  de  Matilet  was  begun  on  the 
north-western  shore  of  the  lake.  It  took  its  name  from  its  founder, 
Hypolite  Maillet,  who  is  portrayed  as  a  man  "  remarkable  for  his  bravery, 
brutality,  and  enterprise."  This  small  French  settlement  was  subse- 
quently changed  to  the  old  Indian  village  at  the  foot  of  the  lake,  on  ac- 
count of  its  greater  salubrity  and  other  advantages.  The  transfer  was 
fully  effected  by  the  year  1797,  and  the  new  village  received  the  name 
of  Peoria.  (See  Ballance's  History  of  Peoria.)  In  the  fall  of  1812,  it 
was  destroyed  by  a  detachment  of  Territorial  militia  under  Captain 
Craig,  and  its  French  inhabitants  were  forcibly  transported  to  and  be- 
low what  is  now  Alton.  In  1813  a  wooden  fort  was  erected  on  the  site 
of  the  village,  which  was  called  Fort  Clark.  This  fort  was  burned  in 
1818;  and  it  was  not  until  the  next  year  (1819)  that  the  place  was  per- 
manently occupied  by  American  pioneers. 
26 


402  Illinois  Under  British  Domination. 

tributary  of  the  Illinois  called  the  Fox  River,  they  struck 
and  followed  a  trail  up  the  Illinois  to  an  island,  where 
some  French  traders  were  found  encamped.  The  latter, 
however,  could  give  Kennedy  no  information  in  regard  to 
the  copper  mine  he  was  seeking.  He  now  hired  one  of  the 
traders  to  take  himself  and  party  in  a  canoe  back  to  the 
place  where  they  had  left  their  boat.  From  thence,  on  the 
way  down  the  Illinois,  they  met  with  a  Frenchman  named 
Jeanette,  who  assisted  them  in  a  further  search  for  the 
mine ;  but  Kennedy  finally  returned  to  Kaskaskia  without 
having  discovered  any  copper.  The  meeting  with  French- 
Canadians  on  this  expedition  showed  that  they  still  hunted 
and  trafficked  with  the  Indians  in  this  part  of  the  country.* 

In  1778,  when  Colonel  George  Rogers  Clark,  and  his 
Virginia  militia,  numbering  less  than  two  hundred  men, 
achieved  the  bloodless  conquest  of  Illinois,  not  a  single 
British  soldier  was  found  doing  duty  in  the  country,  they 
having  all  been  withdrawn  to  other  and  more  important 
points.  M.  de  Rocheblave  was  still  in  command  for  the  En- 
glish at  Fort  Gage ;  but,  owing  to  his  contumacious  behavior, 
he  was  sent  a  prisoner  of  war  to  Virginia,  where  he  was  pa- 
roled and  afterward  broke  his  parole.  In  Kaskaskia  and 
CahoktSTthe  French  militia  were  well  organized,  and  they 
were  Utilized  by  Clark  f  in  maintaining  his  conquest. 

France  had  exercised  sovereignty  over  the  country  of 
the  Illinois  for  ninety-two  years,  commencing  with  the  dis- 
covery by  Joliet  and  Marquette,  in  1673,  and  ending  with 
the  surrender  of  Fort  Chartres,  in  1765.  the  actual  En- 
glish possession  lasted  but  thirteen  years,  or  fifteen  from 
the  treaty  of  Paris  in  1763  till  1778.  In  October  of  the 
latter  year,  the  Virginia  Legislature  erected  the  conquered 
territory  into  the  County  of  Illinois,  and  Colonel  John 
Todd,J  of  Kentucky,  was  appointed  lieutenant-commandant 

*  See  "  Description  of  Western  North  America,"  by  Captain  Gilbert 
Imlay:  3d  ed.,  London,  1797,  pp.  507-512. 

t  George  Rogers  Clark,  the  greatest  character  in  the  early  American 
history  of  Illinois,  was  born  in  Albemarle  county,  Virginia,  November 
19,  1752,  and  died,  unmarried,  near  Louisville,  Ky.,  in  February,  1818. 

t  Todd  was  subsequently  killed  at  the  battle  of  Blue  Licks,  Ky.,  in 
1782. 


Note  on  Kaskaskia.  403 

thereof.  Illinois  thus  became  an  integrant  part  of  Vir- 
ginia, and  so  remained  until  March,  1784,  when  it,  with  the 
rest  of  the  territory  north-west  of  the  river  Ohio,  was  ceded 
by  the  Old  Dominion  to  the  Government  of  the  United 
States. 


In  July,  1778,  when  Colonel  Clark  took  military  possession  of  Kas- 
kaskia, it  is  stated,  on  apparently  good  authority,  that  it  comprised  two 
hundred  and  fifty  houses,  with  a  proportionate  population.  This  estimate, 
if  not  too  high,  shows  a  somewhat  rapid  and  progressive  growth  from 
the  time  of  Pittman's  visit  thither  in  1766.  Kaskaskia,  however,  con- 
tinued to  prosper,  and  maintained  her  rank  and  prestige  as  the  leading 
town  in  the  Illinois  country  down  to  the  year  1820,  since  which  date  she 
has  gradually  dwindled  to  a  mere  skeleton  of  her  former  self.  In  April, 
1881,  the  Mississippi  and  Kaskaskia  Rivers  became  united  above  the 
village  by  a  deep  channel,  which  the  former  had  cut  across  the  penin- 
sula that  forms  the  southern  extremity  of  the  American  Bottom,  thus 
leaving  what  remained  of  the  historic  old  place  on  an  island. 

"  The  very  river,"  says  a  native  of  Kaskaskia,  "  upon  whose  placid 
waters  they  (the  French  settlers)  paddled  their  light  canoes,  has  become 
the  bed  of  the  wild  currents  of  the  Mississippi  and  Missouri  Rivers,  and 
that  beautiful  and  rolling  peninsula,  whereon  the  old  town  was  located, 
has  become  a  desert  island.  The  history  of  the  world  affords  no  paral- 
lel to  the  rapid  and  absolute  desolation  of  old  Kaskaskia.  Towns  and 
cities  have  gone  down  to  ruin,  but  yet  have  left  some  traces  of  their 
former  greatness;  not  so  with  old  Kaskaskia.  The  very  earth  upon 
which  she  stood  has  become  a  desert  and  desolation.  Night  and  ignor- 
ance have  wrapped  themselves  around  her,  and  she  rests  alone  in  the 
memories  of  the  past.  It  is  scarcely  beyond  the  life  of  those  now  living, 
when  she  was  the  most  important  place  in  our  western  territories—  the 
center  of  trade  in  Illinois,  the  capital  of  our  territory,  the  capital  of  our 
state,  and,  with  a  population  of  some  three  thousand  people,  embraced 
a  large  proportion  of  the  wisdom,  learning,  wealth  and  eloquence  of  Il- 
linois. .  .  . 

"  There  is  a  witchery  attending  the  hallowed  memories  of  old  Kas- 
kaskia ;  with  it  the  dreams  of  romance  become  realized,  and  the  prose 
of  life  is  transformed  into  poetry."— Extract  from  an  address,  by  Hon. 
Henry  S.  Baker,  before  the  Illinois  State  Bar  Association,  Jan.  10,  1888. 


404          General  Description  of  the  French  Colonists. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

GENERAL    DESCRIPTION   OF   THE    FRENCH    COLONISTS. 

In  this  concluding  chapter  it  is  proposed  to  depict, 
with  as  much  fidelity  as  possible,  considering  the  distance 
of  time  and  place,  and  the  scantiness  of  authentic  data,  the 
village  abodes,  household  and  farming  implements,  occupa- 
tions, dress,  manners,  customs,  amusements,  the  social  and 
religious  life,  peculiar  to  the  early  French  communities  in 
Illinois  and  Louisiana. 

Unlike  the  English  and  American  pioneers,  who  pre- 
ferred sparse  settlements  and  a  free  range  on  account  of 
their  desire  to  become  land  owners,  the  French  settlers  in- 
variably established  themselves  in  irregular  yet  compact 
villages,  with  such  narrow  streets  between  the  houses  that 
they  could  easily  carry  on  their  light  and  animated  conver- 
sations across  them.  These  villages  were  commonly  located 
on  the  banks  of  some  river,  adjacent  to  a  fort  or  other  se- 
cure place,  and  convenient  to  both  timber  and  prairie ;  the 
one  furnishing  them  with  firewood  and  building  material, 
and  the  other  with  ground  for  tillage. 

Their  primitive  habitations  were  doubtless  little  better 
than  the  Indian  wigwams — a  mere  protection  from  the 
weather — but  in  process  of  time  they  erected  more  sub- 
stantial houses.  In  general,  their  dwellings  were  one  story 
high,  built  in  a  simple  and  inexpensive  way,  after  the  style 
brought  from  Canada,  or  France.  The  framework  con- 
sisted of  roughly  hewn  posts,  firmly  set  in  the  earth,  a  few 
inches  (sometimes  a  few  feet)  apart,  and  bound  together  by 
horizontal  cross-timbers, — the  spaces  between  being  filled 
in  with  mortar,  made  of  common  clay  and  Spanish  moss  * 
or  cut  straw.  The  walls  were  whitewashed,  both  within 


*  This  moss  was  found  growing  in  great  abundance  on  the  forest 
trees  of  the  country. 


Their  Houses  and  Furniture,  405 

and  without,  which  gave  an  air  of  neatness  and  comfort  to 
the  buildings.  The  floors  were  laid  with  puncheons,  or  ce- 
mented with  clay  mortar.  The  eaves  were  low  and  pro- 
jecting, and  the  roofs  steep  and  thatched  with  straw  or 
wild  grass,  though  some  were  covered  with  clapboards 
fastened  with  wooden  pins ;  and  on  the  comb  of  the  roof  a 
wooden  cross  was  often  placed.  The  doors  were  of  plain 
batten  work,  and  were  mostly  made  out  of  walnut.  The 
windows  generally  had  some  glass  in  them,  and  were  hung 
on  hinges ;  but  in  the  earlier  built  houses,  they  used  scraped 
skins  or  oiled  paper  as  a  substitute  for  glass.  The  chim- 
neys, when  attached  to  the  dwellings,  stood  on  the  outside, 
with  large  fire-places  opening  within.  Most  of  these  dom- 
iciles, especially  in  Lower  Louisiana,  were  surrounded  with 
plain  verandas,  which  protected  them  from  the  sun  and 
rain,  while  the  rooms  within  were  cool  and  commodious, 
having  little  furniture,  but  with  white  walls  and  well 
scoured  floors. 

The  mansions  of  the  better  sort  were  in  the  same  pe- 
culiar style,  though  larger,  stronger,  and  more  pretentious 
in  their  architecture ;  these  being  often  built  of  roughly 
dressed  limestone,  and  then  whitewashed.  Few  articles  of 
luxury  were  to  be  found  in  any  of  their  homes,  though  it 
was  not  uncommon  to  s^e  in  the  best  of  them  small  services 
of  china  or  plate,  or  a  single  piece  of  silverware  (perhaps 
an  heirloom),  displayed  on  the  top  of  the  closet,  or  on  a 
side  table.  The  walls  of  the  rooms  wore  frequently  deco- 
rated with  cheap  prints,  illustrative  of  our  Savior's  passion, 
or  of  scenes  in  the  life  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  or  some  favorite 
saint.  These  pictures  not  only  contributed  to  furnish 
their  humble  apartments,  but  served  to  inspire  devotional 
sentiments  in  the  hearts  of  a  people  inclined  to  piety  and 
superstition. 

Of  the  "  commons  "  and  "  common  fields,"  pertaining 
to  the  French  villages,  we  have  elsewhere  treated  in  this 
work.  To  each  villager  was  allotted  a  certain  portion  of 
the  common  field,  the  extent  of  which  was  usually  propor- 
tioned to  the  size  of  his  family.  The  lands  thus  appor- 
tioned were  subject  to  the  village  regulations,  and  when 


406          General  Description  of  the  French  Colonists. 

the  person  in  possession  became  idle  or  negligent  so  as  to 
injure  the  common  interest,  he  forfeited  his  claim.  As  ac- 
cessions were  made  to  families  from  time  to  time,  by  mar- 
riage or  otherwise,  portions  of  land  were  taken  from  the 
commons  and  added  to  the  common  field.for  their  benefit. 
The  time  of  plowing,  sowing,  and  harvesting  was  subject 
to  the  enactments  of  the  village  council  and  commandant. 
Even  the  form  and  construction  of  the  inclosures  to  their 
dwellings  and  other  buildings  were  made  a  matter  of 
special  regulation  by  the  local  commandant,  and  were  ar- 
ranged with  a  view  to  defense  in  case  of  any  sudden  up- 
rising of  the  Indians. 

In  the  gardens  of  the  villagers,  the  common  culinary 
plants,  with  some  medicinal  herbs  and  small  fruits,  were 
cultivated  by  the  side  of  the  modest  violet,  the  fragrant 
rose,  and  the  stately  sunflower.  Here,  too,  the  apple, 
peach,  and  pear  trees  blossomed  and  matured  their  de- 
licious fruits ;  and  the  prolific  grape-vine,  trained  along  the 
inclosures  or  against  the'  eaves  of  the  cottages,  yielded  its 
rich  vintage  in  its  season.  In  addition  to  the  varied  pro- 
ducts of  their  gardens,  their  tables  were  otherwise  well  sup- 
plied from  the  spoils  of  the  chase. 

There  was  always  a  considerable  diversity  of  pursuits 
among  the  French  inhabitants  of  Louisiana  proper,  but  in  the 
dependency  of  the  Illinois,  the  colonists  applied  themselves 
mainly  to  agriculture.  The  principal  crops  raised  were 
wheat,  oats,  rye,  hops  (for  the  breweries),  and  tobacco. 
The  last  named  article  was  highly  esteemed  by  the  males  for 
smoking,  and  by  the  elderly  females  also,  when  it  was 
cured  and  pulverized  into  snuff.  Indian  corn  was  not  much 
grown,  except  for  hominy,  and  to  fatten  swine.  For  use 
as  bread,  the  French  entertained  for  it  a  settled  aversion. 
Their  horses,  of  which  they  did  not  have  a  great  number, 
had  been  introduced  chiefly  from  the  Spanish  settlements 
in  Mexico,  and  were  small,  yet  strong  and  hardy,  perform- 
ing well  for  their  size.  Horned  cattle  were  easily  and  ex- 
tensively raised.  They  were  first  brought  into  Illinois 
from  Canada,  and,  though  not  large,  were  neat  and  well 
formed. 


Farming  and  other  Implements.  407 

The  farming  implements  of  the  colonists  were  of  the 
crudest  and  most  primitive  pattern.  They  used  wooden 
plows*  for  breaking  and  tilling  the  ground,  hand-flails  for 
threshing  their  grain,  and  rude  wooden  carts,  without  a 
particle  of  iron,  in  place  of  wagons.  These  implements 
were  mostly  the  handiwork  of  the  farmer  himself,  aided  by 
his  slaves  (if  he  had  any),  or  by  those  of  his  more  fortunate 
neighbor.  Oxen  were  employed  in  plowing  or  breaking 
the  earth,  and  horses  for  riding  and  drawing  the  carts. 
The  oxen  were  yoked  by  the  horns  instead  of  the  neck, 
and  were  guided  by  strips  or  ropes  of  uutanned  hide.  The 
horses  were  driven  tandem,  that  is,  one  before  the  other, 
and  were  directed  and  controlled  by  the  whip  and  voice, 
without  the  convenience  of  reins.  The  harness  used  was 
made  of  raw  hide,  since  they  had  no  tanned  leather  for  any 
purpose. 

Although  cows  were  plentiful  and  milk  abundant,  the 
common  churn  was  a  thing  unknown  to  these  simple  colon- 
ists, their  butter  being  made  by  shaking  the  cream  in  a 
bottle,  or  breaking  it  in  a  bowl  with  a  spoon.  Nor  were 
the  spinning-wheel  and  loom  (so  common  with  the  Ameri- 
can pioneers)  to  be  seen  in  their  houses.  The  traders  sup- 
plied all  goods  or  stuffs  for  the  use  of  both  sexes,  not  from 
stocks  exposed  on  shelves  in  stores,  as  at  present,  but  from 
chests  and  trunks,  or  tied  up  in  bales. 

The  costume  of  the  early  French  settlers  was  some- 
what motley  in  its  composition,  but  they  had  an  inherited 
predilection  for  the  blue  in  color.  For  clothing,  the  men 
wore  shirts  and  waistcoats  of  cotton,  with  coarse  blue  cloth 
or  deer-skin  trousers,  and  moccasins,  after  the  Indian 
fashion.  Over  these  was  worn,  in  winter,  the  indispensable 
capote,  or  long  woolen  coat,  with  a  blue  hood  attachment, 
which,  in  wet  or  cold  weather,  was  drawn  over  the  head, 
and  at  other  times  fell  back  on  the  shoulders  as  a  cape,  like 


*  "  The  old  plow  used  by  the  French  would  be  a  curiosity  at  this 
day.  It  had  no  coulter,  but  had  a  large  wooden  mold-board".  The 
handles  were  short,  and  stood  almost  perpendicular.  The  beam  was 
nearly  straight,  and  rested  on  an  axle  supported  by  two  small  wheels, 
which  made  the  plow  unsteady." — Reynolds'  Pioneer  History. 


408          General  Description  of  the  French  Colonists. 

that  of  the  habitants  of  Lower  Canada.  Among  the  voy- 
ayeurs  and  traders,  the  head  was  more  often  covered  with  a 
blue  cotton  handkerchief,  folded  in  the  shape  of  a  turban. 
In  like  manner,  but  neatly  trimmed  with  ribbons,  was 
formed  the  fancy  head-dress  worn  by  the  young  women  at 
balls  and  other  festive  occasions.  The  dress  of  the  matron, 
though  plain  and  with  the  antique  short  waist,  was  neat  and 
varied  in  its  minor  details  to  suit  the  diversities  of  womanly 
taste.  I  Both  sexes  wore  moccasins  of  Indian  manufacture, 
which,  for  public  occasions,  were  variously  decorated  with 
small  shells,  beads  and  ribbons,  giving  them  quite  a  showy 
appearance. 

Notwithstanding  their  tawny  complexions,  and  an  ap- 
pearance of  languor  among  the  people,  the  effects  in  part 
of  climate,  there  was  nothing  of  that  sickly,  cadaverous 
look,  and  listless  air  and  bearing  so  observable  in  tne  cre- 
oles  of  the  West  Indies  and  Central  America.  The  counte- 
nances of  the  young  maidens  in  particular  were  lively  and 
engaging,  with  their  black  eyes,  raven  tresses,  graceful 
forms,  and  quick,  elastic  steps,  like  that  of  the  mountain 
maiden  of  whom  Scott  has  sung : 

"A  foot  more  light,  a  step  more  true, 
Ne'er  from  the  heath-flower  dashed  the  dew." 

They  were  all  essentially  French  in  character,  with 
something  of  the  Spanish  gravity,  but  the  tout  ensemble 
indicated  cheerfulness  and  an  agreeable  composure.*  A 
quick-witted  people,  they  had  a  penchant  for  nick-names, 
both  as  applied  to  persons  and  places.  For  example,  they 
first  named  Ste.  Genevieve,  Mo.,  Misere,  as  expressive  of 
the  misery  or  poverty  of  the  place.  Carondelet  received  the 
derisive  name  of  Vide  Poche,  or  Empty  Pocket,f  and  St. 
Louis  was  long  known  as  Pain  Court,  or  Short-bread. 


*  Breese's  Early  Ill's,  p.  193. 

t  Carondelet,  Mo.,  was  founded  by  Clement  Delor  de  Tregette,  as 
early  as  1767,  and  was  afterward  named  in  compliment  to  the  Baron 
de  Carondelet,  who  was  Spanish  governor  of  Louisiana  from  1792  till  1797. 
This  French  village  is  situated  about  six  miles  south  of  the  county  court 
house,  in  St.  Louis,  and  now  forms  a  part  of  the  latter  city. 


Boating  on  the  Mississippi.  409 

Kaskaskia  was  familiarly  called  Au  Kas,  which  became 
corrupted  into  Okaw. 

Among  these  colonists,  the  mechanical  occupations 
were  confined  to  a  few  carpenters,  tailors,  stone-masons, 
boat-builders,  and  blacksmiths ;  which  last  could  repair  a 
firelock  or  a  rifle.  The  artisans  journeyed  from  village  to 
village  in  quest  of  employment,  and  were  ready  to  turn  their 
hands  to  any  kind  of  work.  Now  and  then  might  be  found 
among  them  a  millwright,  who  could  make  or  repair  the  run- 
ning-gear of  a  water-mill,  or  build  a  horse  mill  The  only 
wind-mill  in  the  country,  of  which  we  find  any  mention, 
stood  on  the  road  between  Kaskaskia  and  Prairie  du  Rocher. 
Coopers  were  scarce,  though  they  should  have  been  in  de- 
mand, for  large  quantities  of  flour  were  manufactured  and 
shipped  to  the  southern  markets ;  but  no  other  bagging  ap- 
pears to  have  been  used  in  the  packing  and  shipment  of 
flour  than  that  afforded  by  dried  elk  and  deer-skins. 

Aside  from  the  business  of  hunting  and  small  traffick- 
ing with  the  Indians,  which  attracted  the  more  indolent, 
the  most  captivating  and  adventurous  employment  for  the 
young  or  middle-aged  Frenchman  was  boating  on  the  Mis- 
sissippi River.  Success  in  this  arduous  calling  demanded 
the  combined  exercise  of  many  qualities,  such  as  bodily 
activity,  courage,  capability  of  undergoing  great  fatigue, 
a  quick  eye,  a  steady  hand,  and  withal  good  judgment. 
The  voyage  from  Fort  Chartres  or  Kaskaskia  to  New  Or- 
leans was  the  principal  and  most  important  one.  It  usually 
consumed  about  three  months'  time,  and  was  more  difficult 
and  hazardous  than  a  trip  across  the  Atlantic,  even  at  that 
day.  The  river,  then  as  now,  was  tortuous  and  rapid,  its 
deep  channel  being  obstructed  by  snags  and  sawyers,  and 
continually  shifting  its  course.  Nor  were  these  the  only 
difficulties  to  be  encountered  in  navigating  the  stream. 
From  Kaskaskia  to  the  vicinity  of  New  Orleans,  there 
were  no  white  settlements  of  any  consequence,  except  at 
the  Arkansas,  Natchez,  and,  later  on,  Baton  Rouge ;  and 
the  route  was  more  or  less  beset  by  marauding  bands  of 
Chickasaws  and  other  Indians,  whom  French  power  had 
not  been  able  to  subdue. 


410          General  Description  of  the  French  Colonists. 

The  voyage  was  made  in  large  bateaux,*  each  manned 
by  from  sixteen  to  twenty  hands,  and  going  in  convoys  for 
mutual  safety.  The  boats  were  laden  with  the  surplus  pro- 
ductions of  the  Illinois  country,  which  were  exchanged  for 
such  necessaries  and  luxuries  as  their  own  labor  or  sdil  did 
not  produce,  or  else  converted  into  the  gold  and  silver  coin- 
age of  France.  Accounts  were  all  kepi;  in  livres ;  and,  be- 
sides coin,  good  pelts,  at  a  fixed  rate  per  pound,  were  a 
recognized  measure  of  values,  and  passed  freely  in  com- 
mercial transactions  throughout  the  province. 

The  upward  or  return  voyage  was  very  tedious  and 
laborious,  generally  taking  from  three  to  four  months.  Every 
means  was  resorted  to  by  the  boatmen — by  keeping  in  the 
eddies  near  the  shore,  by  sometimes  crossing  the  river,  and  by 
the  frequent  use  of  the  tow  rope — to  make  headway  against 
the  dead  weight  of  the  current.  Under  such  circumstances 
an  Indian  ambuscade  might  be  fatal  to  the  crew  of  one 
boat,  but  as  several  went  together  the  danger  was  proportion- 
ately lessened.  Attacks  from  the  savages,  however,  were 
less  to  be  dreaded  than  the  malignant  fevers,  which  swept 
away  numbers  of  the  men  annually. 

The  flotilla  was  usually  commanded  by  an  officer  of 
the  king's  troops,  when  a  suitable  one  could  be  had,  or,  if 
not,  one  was  selected  from  among  the  more  experienced 
of  the  boatmen  themselves.  To  reach  this  distinction,  or 
even  that  of  captain  of  a  single  boat,  was  deemed  an  object 
worthy  of  ambition ;  yet  but  few  attained  this  coveted  prize 
of  their  perilous  calling.  Strict  military  discipline  was 
enforced,  and  a  regular  guard  was  mounted  at  each  stop- 
ping place  at  night.  On  returning  from  their  protracted 
river  voyages,  the  boatmen,  like  sailors  the  world  over,  were 
very  prodigal  of  their  earnings.  "  They  were  as  liberal  as 
princes,  and  valued  money  as  nothing  more  than  a  means 
by  which  pleasure  could  be  purchased  and  appetites  in- 
dulged. Saving  was  no  part  of  their  economy."  f  In  con- 

*  The  bateau  was  a  long  and  rather  light  built  boat,  of  about  twenty 
tons  burden. 

t  Breese's  Early  Illinois,  p.  208. 


Social  Condition  an  Environments.  411 

vival  intercourse,  they  were  much  addicted  to  relating  long 
stories  about  their  voyages,  adventures,  and  hair-breadth 
escapes  among  the  savages.  » 

For  ordinary  locomotion  on  water,  the  canoe  was  in- 
dispensable to  the  early  French  settler.  Those  in  common 
use  were  mostly  hollowed  out  of  the  trunks  of  trees,  that 
of  the  cypress  being  preferred  on  account  of  its  lightness 
and  elasticity.  The  birch  bark  canoes  came  from  the 
region  of  the  high  northern  lakes,  and  were  principally  used 
by  the  Canadian  voyageurs  and  fur-traders.  They  were  con- 
structed of  a  slight  frame-work  of  cedar,  incased  with  the 
flexible  bark  of  the  "  Canoe  Birch,"  and  were  remarkable 
for  their  lightness  and  buoyancy.  Of  different  sizes,  they 
were  finished  alike  at  both  ends,  and  were  built  to  carry 
from  four  to  twelve  persons.  Charlevoix  informs  us  that 
the  Ottawa  Indians  were  the  most  expert  builders  of  these 
canoes,  but  that  the  French  were  more  skillful  in  handling 
them. 

Owing  to  their  extraordinary  tact  for  ingratiating 
themselves  with  the  aboriginal  tribes,  by  whom  they  were 
surrounded,  the  Illinois  French  escaped  almost  entirely 
those  broils  and  border  strifes  which  weakened  and  some- 
times destroyed  other  and  less  favored  European  colonies. 
Whether  navigating  the  interminable  rivers  of  the  country, 
or  threading  the  solitudes  of  the  wild  forests  and  prairies 
in  quest  of  game  ;  whether  at  home  in  their  villages,  or  as 
participants  in  the  religious  exercises  of  the  same  Catholic 
church,  the  red  men  became  their  every-day  associates  and 
assistants,  and  were  treated  with  the  kindness  and  considera- 
tion of  brothers.  The  social  condition  of  the  early  colonists 
was  thus  formed,  to  some  extent,  by  the  influence  of  their 
Indian  neighbors  with  whom  they  maintained  such  friendly 
relations.  But  while  the  barbarism  of  the  savages  was,  in 
some  degree,  softened  by  this  intercourse,  the  morals  of  the 
French  were  not  improved.  Many  of  the  original  settlers, 
and  particularly  the  trappers  and  traders,  contracted  mar- 
riages or  temporary  alliances  with  the  Indian  women, 
from  which  sprang  the  mixed  progeny  known  as  "half- 


412          General  Description  of  the  French  Colonists. 

breeds."*  They  made  expert  hunters  and  trappers,  and 
indefatigable  boatmen,  but  in  their  general  characteristics 
partook  more  of  the  savage  than  the  civilized  man.  The 
natural  home  of  the  "  half-breed "  is  on  the  outskirts,  the 
boundaries  of  American  civilization,  where  he  still  flour- 
ishes as  in  days  of  yore. 

The  example  of  the  Canadian  and  Illinois  French  in 
amalgamating  with  the  Indians,  although  adopted  more  per- 
haps as  a  matter  of  policy  and  convenience,  was  not  one  to 
be  commended ;  for  time  and  experience  have  abundantly 
shown  that  all  such  intermixture  of  races  degrade  the  su- 
perior without  materially  improving  the  inferior  race.  In 
the  case  of  the  French,  they  did  not  sink  to  the  level  of 
barbarism,  yet  they  were  left  in  a  condition  below  that  of 
true  civilization.  There  are,  it  is  true,  some  English  and 
American  half  and  quarter-breeds ;  but,,  as  a  rule,  the 
Anglo-Americans  have  ever  disdained  to  mingle  their 
blood  with  a  distinctively  inferior  race,  and  to  this  circum- 
stance they  owe,  in  no  slight  degree,  their  pre-eminence 
among  the  enlightened  races  of  mankind. 

In  the  early  years  of  the  French  settlements  in  Louisi- 
ana, there  was  very  little  money  of  any  kind  in  circulation, 
business  being  transacted  by  barte'r  and  exchange.  After 
the  collapse  of  Law's  "  credit  system  "  (1720),  the  money 
in  use  consisted  of  gold  and  silver  coins  of  the  French  and 
Spanish  mints.  The  value  of  every  thing  was  reckoned 
in  livres ;  the  livre  being  equivalent  to  the  modern  franc, 
five  of  which  equal  ninety-five  cents.  Then  there  was  the 
louis  d'or,  a  French  gold  coin,  valued  at  $4.84,  and  the 
Spanish  doubloon,  a  gold  coin  worth  about  $15.93.  During 
Gov.  Kerlerec's  administration,  a  paper  money  called  bons 
was  extensively  issued  at  New  Orleans,  but  it  never  had 
much  circulation  in  the  dependency  of  the  Illinois.  It 
was  emitted  in  sums  of  from  ten  sous  or  cents  to  one  hun- 
dred livres,  was  signed  by  the  governor  and  intendant  of 
the  province,  and  was  so  called  from  the  first  word  on  the 


*  In  the  French  villages  of  Missouri,  the  half-breeds  received  the 
nic-name  of  "Gumbos." 


Their  Amusements  and  Festal  Days.  413 

face  of  the  paper — Bon  pour  la  somme  payable  en  lettre  de 
change  sur  le  tresor. 

Separated  from  their  mother-land  by  the  Atlantic 
Ocean,  and  by  a  thousand  miles  of  interior  navigation 
from  Montreal  on  the  one  hand,  and  from  New  Orleans  on 
the  other,  the  French  colonists  of  Illinois  were  obliged  to 
rely  upon  themselves  not  only  for  the  necessaries  of  life, 
but  also  for  their  amusements.  Socially  inclined,  light-  > 
hearted  and  gay,  their  principal  diversion  was  dancing,  in 
which  all  classes  freely  joined,  to  the  enlivening  music  of  ;' 
the  violin.  When  parties  were  assembled  for  this  purpose, 
it  was  customary  to  choose  some  of  the  older  and  more  dis- 
creet persons  to  direct  the  entertainment,  preserve  order,  and 
see  that  all  present  had  an  opportunity  to  participate  in  the 
pleasurable  pastime.  Whenever  those  in  authority  on  such 
occasions  decided  that  the  entertainment  had  been  pro- 
tracted long  enough,  it  was  brought  to  a  close,  and  thus 
excesses  were  avoided. 

Then,  again,  the  monotony  of  their  existence  was 
broken  by  the  many/etes  or  festal  days  connected  with  the 
Catholic  church.  All  the  people  shared  alike  in  the  harm- 
less merriment  of  shrove-tide,  and  in  the  fun  and  frolic  of 
the  carnival,  and  at  its  close  repaired  to  the  sacred  precincts 
of  the  sanctuary  to  receive  the  sprinkling  of  ashes,  typical 
of  their  conclusion.  All,  too,  observed  the  same  self-denying 
ordinances  during  the  Lenten  season,  which  terminated 
with  the  festival  of  Easter.  Society,  of  course,  had  its  di- 
visions even  here  ;  but  those  artificial  distinctions  between 
the  rich  and  the  poor,  which  obtain  in  older  and  more  pol- 
ished communities,  were  not  recognized  or  maintained 
among  these  secluded  colonists. 

In  their  domestic  relations,  they  were  in  general  ex- 
emplary and  kind,  affectionate  to  their  children  and  lenient 
toward  their  slaves.  In  fact,  the  family  circle  was  usually 
a  very  cheerful  and  happy  one.  The  male  servants  worked 
in  the  fields  with  their  masters,  faring  as  well  as  they  did, 
and  had  small  plots  of  ground  assigned  them,  and  the  use 
of  their  master's  team  to  cultivate  the  same ;  thus  mutual 
esteem  and  confidence  were  inspired.  The  females  assisted 


414          General  Description  of  the  French  Colonists. 

their  mistresses  in  the  kitchen  and  nursery,  and  then, 
in  neat  attire,  accompanied  them  to  matins  and  ves- 
pers. When  sick  or  disabled,  they  were  nursed  with 
tenderness  and  care ;  and,  in  fine,  were  the  recipients  of  so 
much  humane  treatment  as  to  be  wholly  unmindful  of  the 
fetters  with  which  custom  and  state  policy  had  bound 
them. 

The  language  spoken  by  the  commonalty  was  not  pure 
French,  but  a  patois,  or  corrupted  provincial  dialect.  No 
common  schools  existed  in  the  country,  nor  any  system  of 
public  instruction.  The  Jesuits  imparted  some  little  of  that 
learning,  with  which  they  were  so  richly  endowed,  to  such 
young  Creoles  as  they  found  "  thirsting  for  the  waters  of 
the  Pierian  spring ;"  yet  no  plan  of  general  education  was 
ever  adopted,  or  even  seriously  considered,  by  those  in  au- 
thority. Hence  the  charge  of  illiteracy  is  laid  against  this 
people ;  but,  as  the  poet  Gray  has  said — 

"  Where  ignorance  is  bliss,  'tis  folly  to  be  wise." 

The  Roman  Catholic  creed,  however,  was  instilled  into 
the  minds  of  all  from  their  earliest  childhood,  and  the  ta- 
pering spires  of  its  little  churches  or  chapels  arose  in  every 
hamlet.  In  them  was  performed  the  marriage  ceremony, 
the  priest  consecrating  the  nuptial  tie  and  recording  the 
act,  which  was  attested  by  witnesses.  There  the  sacrament 
of  baptism  was  administered  to  infants  and  adults ;  there, 
too,  were  held  the  last  sad  obsequies  for  the  dead,  and 
masses  were  said  for  the  souls  of  those  "  not  dying  in  the 
odor  of  sanctity."  * 

"  Separated  thus  from  all  the  world,  these  people  ac- 
quired many  peculiarities.  In  language,  dress,  and  man- 
ners, they  lost  much  of  their  original  polish ;  but  they  re- 


*  Breese's  Early  111.,  p.  209. 

Note. — "  The  inhabitants,"  writes  Reynolds,  "  were  devout  and  strong 
believers  in  the  Roman  Catholic  Church.  They  were  willing  to  fight 
and  die  for  the  maintenance  of  the  doctrines  of  their  church.  They 
considered  the  Church  of  Rome  infallible,  emanating  directly  from  God, 
and  therefore  all  the  dogmas  were  received  and  acted  on  without  a  why 
or  wherefore." — Pioneer  History  of  Illinois,  p.  55. 


Origin  of  the  Different  Classes  o/  Colonists.          415 

tained,  and  (their  descendants)  still  retain,  many  of  the 
leading  characteristics  of  their  nation.  They  took  care  to 
keep  up  their  ancient  holidays  and  festivals ;  and  with 
few  luxuries,  and  fewer  wants,  they  were  probably  as  cheer- 
ful and  as  happy  a  people  as  any  in  existence.''  * 

The  foregoing  descriptive  account  applies  not  only  to 
the  early  French  colonists  in  Illinois  and  all  Northern  Lou- 
isiana, but  also,  with  only  slight  alteration,  to  their  village 
settlements  in  Southern  Louisiana.  At  New  Orleans,  the  po- 
litical and  commercial  seat  of  government,  there  was  always 
a  certain  number  of  people  of  family  and  education.  There 
were  the  rude  semblance  of  a  court,  a  kind  of  theater,  and 
amusements  of  a  higher  grade  than  could  be  found  else- 
where within  the  limits  of  the  large  province.  The  deni- 
zens of  New  Orleans  were  wont  to  look  upon  their  rural 
countrymen  in  much  the  same  manner  as  they  themselves 
were  regarded  by  the  refined  circles  of  Paris.  Among  the 
mixed  population  of  that  colonial  metropolis,  however, 
drunkenness,  brawls,  and  dueling  were  unhappily  too  prev-  / 
alent,  both  before  and  after  the  Spanish  occupation  of  the 
country.f 

Some  few  of  the  Louisiana  colonists  were  of  noble 
origin ;  many  were  military  officers,  while  others  were 
born  gentlemen,  and  the  ecclesiastics  were  all  educated 
people.  With  but  few  exceptions,  the  original  immigrants 
to  Illinois  had  come  by  way  of  Canada  from  the  north  of 
France,  and  mostly  belonged  to  the  bourgeois  and  paysan 
classes.  But  many  of  those  who  afterward  settled  in 
Lower  Louisiana  were  from  the  south-western  provinces 
of  France,  bordering  on  the  Pyrenees  and  the  Atlantic. 
A  number  of  these  were  well  educated  business  men  from 
the  larger  cities  and  towns,  and  some  of  them  made  their 
way  up  the  Mississippi  to  Kaskaskia  and  St.  Louis,  where 
they  founded  influential  families,  still  existing.^  It  was, 
perhaps,  a  fortunate  trait,  and  certainly  an  amiable  one,  in 

*  Sketches  of  the  West,  by  Judge  James  Hall,  vol.  1,  p.  150, 

t  Gayarre's  Louisiana,  vol.  1. 

t  Billon's  Annals  of  Early  St.  Louis. 


416          G-eneral  Description  of  the  French  Colonists. 

the  French  character,  that  such  men  could  so  readily  re- 
sign the  comforts  and  pleasures  of  civilized  life  in  their 
natal  land,  and  make  themselves  contented  among  savages 
in  the  remote  and  uncultivated  regions  of  the  Mississippi, 
where  they  seldom  heard  from  their  homes  over  the  sea 
more  than  once  in  twelve  months. 


[  AUTHORITIES.  ] 

For  the  facts  embodied  in  the  foregoing  chapter,  we  are  indebted  to 
various  sources,  but  chiefly  to  the  labors  of  Judge  Sidney  Breese  and  ex- 
Gov.  John  Reynolds,  both  of  whom  had-  early  an  excellent  opportuni- 
ties for  observing  the  French  character  and  manners.  Breese  resided  in 
Kaskaskia  from  1818  to  1835,  and  then  at  Carlyle,  Illinois,  until  his  death 
in  1878;  while  Reynolds  lived  in  Cahokia  from  1814  to  about  1830,  and 
afterward  in  Belleville,  111:,  until  the  close  of  his  life  in  1865.  It  may  be 
added  here  that  Breese's  "Early  History  of  Illinois  "  was  first  given  to 
the  public  in  the  shape  of  an  extended  historical  address,  in  December, 
1842,  but  it  was  not  published  in  book  form  until  after  his  decease,  and, 
then,  without  his  previous  revision  or  correction.  Reynolds'  "  Pioneer 
History,"  an  entertaining  and  instructive  work,  first  appeared  in  1852. 

Among  modern  writers  on  French- American  history,  the  two  most 
distinguished  are  Fmncis  Parkman  and  the  late  Dr.  John  Gilmary  Shea.* 
Their  various  and  valuable  publications  cover  the  entire  period  of  the 
French  rule  on  this  continent,  and  are  characterized  by  profoundness 
of  erudition  and  elegance  of  style.  To  these  may  now  be  added  Dr. 
Wm.  Kingsford,  of  Ottawa,  Canada,  whose  elaborate  and  able  "  History 
of  Canada  from  the  Earliest  Times  to  1841,"  has  taken  rank  among  the 
standard  publications  of  the  day.  But  those  who  would  become 
thoroughly  informed  concerning  this  early  and  intricate  branch  of 
American  history,  should  study  the  writings  of  Charlevoix,  Hennepin 
Le  Clercq,  Bossu,  La  Hontan,  and  the  Jesuit  missionaries. 


*  This  eminent  Catholic  scholar,  after  a  long  find  laborious  literary  career,  died  at 
his  home  in  Elizabeth,  New  Jersey,  the  22d  of  February,  1892,  aged  sixty-nine. 


INDEX. 


A. 

Abenakis  Indians,  a  band  of  near  Fort  Miami  on  Lake  Michigan,  page 
130;  they  form  a  part  of  LaSalle's  colony  on  the  Illinois  River,  148. 

Abercrombie,  General,  and  commander-in-chief  of  the  British  army 
(1758),  332;  repulsed  by  Montcalm  at  Ticonderoga,  333. 

Acadia,  settled  by  the  French  under  DeMonts,  10,  11 ;  origin  of  the 
name,  10,  note ;  when  changed  to  Nova  Scotia,  329,  note. 

Acadiaus,  deportation  of  to  English  colonies,  329  and  note;  settlement 
formed  by  in  Lower  Louisiana,  368. 

Accault  or  Ako,  Michael,  companion  of  Father  Hennepin  on  the  Mis- 
sissippi, 105;  his  wife  the  daughter  of  a  Kaskaskia  chief,  204. 

Aix-la-Chapelle,  Treaty  of,  313,  329. 

Akansea,  or  Akansa.     (See  Arkansas.) 

Algonquins,  on  the  St.  Lawrence,  13  and  note;  mention,  34,  48. 

Alibamons,  location  of,  265,  note. 

Allouez,  Claude,  founds  the  Jesuit  Mission  on  Green  Bay,  51 ;  intrigues 
with  the  Miamis  against  LaSalle,  92;  re-establishes  Marquette's  mis- 
sion at  the  great  town  of  the  Illinois,  196^  his  description  of  the 
town,  197 ;  death  at  Ft.  Miami,  on  Lake  Michigan,  198. 

Amusements  of  the  early  Illinois  colonists,  413. 

Anticosti  Island,  discovered  by  Cartier,  5 ;  granted  to  Joliet,  68. 

Aquipaguetin,  a  Sioux  chief,  the  adopted  father  of  Hennepin,  107. 

Arkansas  River,  discovered  by  De  Soto,  29. 

Arkansas  Post,  181,  note;  established  by  Henri  de  Tonty,  182;  mention, 
190,  242. 

Arkansas,  villages  of  the,  58,  138,  183. 

Aubry,  Charles,  Chevalier  de,  defeats  an  English  force  near  Fort  Du- 
quesne,  334 ;  becomes  acting  French  governor  of  Louisiana,  367 ; 
Champigny's  portrait  of,  367-8,  note;  he  delivers  possession  of  the 
province  to  O'Reilly,  374 ;  perishes  by  drowning  in  the  river  Ga- 
ronne, 379  and  note. 

Authorities  cited  in  this  work,  416,  note. 

B. 

Bahamos,  or  Ebahamos,  an  errant  tribe  of  southern  Texas,  162,  167. 
Bancroft,  George,  references  to  his  History  of  the  United  States,  29, 

note,  205,  219,  note,  285,  290. 

Balize,  a  hamlet  at  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  371,  note. 
Beaujeu,  Captain  or  Count  de,  pilots  LaSalle's  Sea  expedition  into  Gulf 
27  (417) 


418  Index. 

of  Mexico,  156;  his  bickerings  with  La  Salle,  156-7;  takes  leave  of 
the  latter  on  coast  of  Texas,  159. 

Beaujeu,  Daniel  Lienard  de,  plans  defeat  of  Braddock  on  the  Monon- 
gahela,  327 ;  is  killed  in  the  battle,  328. 

Belle  Fontaine,  lieutenant  under  Tonty  at  Fort  St.  Louis,  of  the  111.,  184. 

Bellerive,  Louis  St.  Ange  de,  commandant  at  Post  de  Vincennes,  302; 
he  surrenders  Fort  Chartres  to  Capt.  Stirling,  3(30;  twice  ap- 
pointed commandant  at  Fort  Chartres,  361,  note ;  goes  to  St.  Louis, 
Mo.,  and  takes  command  there,  385 ;  is  admitted  into  a  Spanish 
regiment,  385 ;  dies  in  St.  Louis  at  a  ripe  age,  386,  note. 

Bienville,  Jean  Baptiste,  Sieur  de,  accompanies  his  brother  Iberville 
to  Louisiana,  213;  succeeds  Sauvolle  in  command  at  Fort  Biloxi, 
and  on  the  Mobile,  223;  is  appointed  lieutenant-commandant  under 
Crozat,  239;  erects  Fort  Rosalie  at  Natchez,  241;  commissioned 
governor  of  the  Province  of  Louisiana,  under  the  Company  of  the 
West,  260;  founds  the  city  of  New  Orleans  (in  1718),  263;  takes 
Pensacola  from  the  Spaniards,  266-7  ;  his  first  campaign  against  the 
Chickasaws  290 ;  second  campaign,  295;  retires  from  office  under  a 
cloud,  296;  sails  for  France  regretted  by  the  colonists,  297;  his  in- 
terview with  the  Duke  de  Choiseul,  to  protest  against  the  transfer  of 
Louisiana  to  Spain,  369;  death  and  character,  369  and  note. 

Billons  (F.  L.)     Annals  of  early  St.  Louis,  389,  415. 

Boating  on  the  Lower  Mississippi,  409. 

Boauf,  Fort  Le,  or  Ft.  sur  la  riviere  au  Bceuf,  situation  of,  321 ;  Washing- 
ton's winter  journey  thither,  322 ;  mention,  350. 

Boisbriant,  Pierre  Duqu£  de,  arrives  in  Louisiana  as  king's  lieutenant, 
260;  is  sent  to  command  at  the  dependency  of  the  Illinois,  270; 
builds  old  Fort  Chartres,  271 ;  land  grants  executed  by,  272-3 ;  be- 
comes governor  ad  interim  of  Louisiana,  276. 

Bossu,  M.,  Captain  in  the  French  marines,  and  Chevalier  of  St.  Louis, 
his  account  of  the  Spanish-Mexican  expedition  into  the  country  of 
the  Missouri  Indians,  269;  and  notice  of  the  rebuilding  of  Fort 
Chartres,  313,  note. 

Bouquet,  Col.  Henry,  conquers  the  Delawares  and  Shawnees  on  the 
river  Muskingham,  351 ;  releases  many  white  prisoners,  351. 

Braddock,  Edward,  British  general,  lands  at  Alexandria,  Va.,  and 
marches  against  Fort  Duquesne,  326  ;  his  disastrous  defeat  at  Battle 
of  the  Monongahela,  327 ;  sketch  of  his  military  career,  328,  note. 

BrSbeuf,  Jean  de,  one  of  the  first  Jesuit  missionaries  in  Canada,  16,  18. 

Breese,  Sidney,  references  to  and  citations  from  his  Early  History  of 
Illinois,  89,  note;  96,  note;  112,  note;  147,  204,  273-4,  287,  305,  310,  314,, 
381,  408,  410,  414,  416,  note. 

Breuil,  M.  de,  erects  first  sugar  mill  at  New  Orleans,  297. 

British  military  governors  of  Illinois,  394,  395. 

Buffalo  Rock  (60  feet  high),  on  the  Illinois  River,  about  three  miles  above 
Starved  Rock,  90. 

C. 

Cabots,  John  and  Sebastian,  early  voyages  of  discovery  to  North  Amer- 
ica, 2  and  3. 


Index.  419 

Cadillac,  Antoine  de  la  Mothe,  governor  of  Louisiana  under  Crozat,  238  ; 
sketch  of,  239,  note;  founds  the  post  of  Detroit,  344. 

Cadodaquis,  an  Indian  tribe  on  Red  River,  180,  188. 

Cahokia,  first  settlement  of,  207;  Charlevoix'  account  of  the  mission 
at,  209;  Pittman's  description  of  the  village,  392,  393  and  note. 

Canada,  discovery  of,  5 ;  derivation  of  the  name,  7,  note. 

Canoes,  birch  bark,  how  constructed,  411. 

Carondelet,  village  of,  when  and  by  whom  founded,  408,  note. 

Cdrtier,  Jacques,  French  navigator,  discovers  and  explores  the  St.  Law- 
rence, 5  ;  with  Roberval  he  attempts  a  settlement  on  that  river,  7 ; 
is  rewarded  for  his  services  to  the  king  with  a  patent  of  nobility,  8. 

Cavelier,  the  Abb4  Jean,  a  Sulpitian  priest  and  brother  of  La  Salle,  72; 
he  accompanies  La  Salle  in  his  last  expedition,  155;  deception  prac- 
ticed by  him  on  Tonty,  186. 

Cenis  Indians,  on  Trinity  River,  Texas,  visited  by  La  Salle,  164;  also  by 
Jouteletal.,  176. 

Champlain,  Samuel  de,  parentage  and  early  career,  9;  is  sent  by  the 
governor  of  Dieppe  on  an  exploring  expedition  to  the  St.  Lawrence, 
10;  assists  DeMonts  in  colonizing  Acadia,  11;  with  PontgravS  he 
founds  Quebec,  12,  13 ;  surrenders  that  post  to  the  English,  and  is 
carried  a  prisoner  to  England,  17 ;  his  return  to  Canada,  and  death 
at  Quebec,  18:  analysis  of  his  character,  19. 

Champlain  Lake,  when  discovered,  14. 

Charlevoix,  Pierre  Francois  Xavier  de,  a  distinguished  Jesuit  scholar 
and  historian ;  references  to  and  quotations  from  his  works,  12, 
note;  16,  note;  62,  65,  note;  208-240}  263;  biographical  notice  of,  211, 
note. 

Chateaugue,  Antoine  le  Moyne  de,  brother  of  Iberville  and  Bienville,  225. 

Checagou,  chief  of  the  Kaskaskias,  290. 

Chickasaw  Bluffs,  mention,  28,  137,  292. 

Chickasaw  nation,  289;  French  wars  with,  290,  295,  298. 

Chicagou  or  Chicago,  site  of  wintered  on  by  Marquette,  63;  visited  by 
La  Salle  on  his  way  to  the  gulf,  135-6. 

Choiseul,  Duke  de,  prime  minister  of  Louis  XV.,  letter  to  the  Count  de 
Fuentes,  364;  he  refuses  petition  of  the  inhabitants  of  La.,  369. 

Clark,  Col.  George  Rogers,  his  expedition  to,  and  conquest  of  the  Il- 
linois country,  402  and  note,  403  note. 

Colbert,  Jean  Baptiste,  a  great  minister  under  Louis  XIV.,  favors  La 
Salle's  enterprises,  80,  81 ;  decease  of,  153,  note. 

Columbus,  Christopher,  mention,  2. 

Comet  of  1680,  120,  note. 

Commons,  right  of  granted  to  the  inhabitants  of  Kaskaskia,  304,  305. 

Common  Fields,  description  of,  273. 

Copper  mines,  search  for,  40,  46,  399. 

Cortereal,  Gaspar  de  (Portuguese  navigator),  voyages  to  Labrador,  3. 

Cotton,  when  culture  of  introduced  in  Louisiana,  298. 

Court  of  "  Rcyal  Jurisdiction  "  in  the  Illinois,  309,  310. 

Court,  first  common  law,  in  Illinois,  395. 


420  Index. 

Coureurs  des  bois,  or  runners  of  the  woods,  attempts  of  the  Canadian 
government  to  suppress,  118,  195. 

Courcelles,  Daniel  de  li^my,  Sieur  de,  second  Canadian  governor  under 
the  royal  provincial  government,  20 ;  recall  of,  45. 

Crdve-coeur  (See  Fort  Cr^ve-coeur). 

Craig,  Captain  Thomas,  destroys  French  and  Indian  village  of  Peoria, 
401,  note. 

Croghan,  Colonel  George,  conciliatory  mission  to  the  Western  Indians, 
353  ;  his  journey  over  the  mountains  to  Fort  Pitt,  353 ;  he  descends 
the  Ohio,  355 ;  is  captured  by  a  band  of  Kickapoos  below  mouth  of 
the  Wabash,  355 ;  taken  as  a  prisoner  to  Vincennes,  356 ;  released 
at  Fort  Ouatanon,  356;  he  meets  and  confers  with  Pontiac,  357; 
peace  speech  by  to  the  Indians  at  Detroit,  358 ;  success  of  his  mis- 
sion, 360. 

Crozat,  Antoine,  Marquis  de  Chatel,  is  granted  a  monopoly  of  the  com- 
merce and  government  of  Louisiana,  234 ;  his  letters  patent,  234-237; 
mercantile  and  mining  operations  of,  238,  239 ;  surrenders  his  charter 
to  the  crown,  240. 

D. 

Dablon,  Claude,  eminent  Jesuit  missionary,  42 ;  notice  of  his  life  and 
writings,  43,  44,  note. 

D'Abbadie,  M.,  succeeds  Kerlerec  as  acting  governor  of  Louisiana,  314, 
363 ;  death  of  in  New  Orleans,  367. 

D'Artaguette,  Diron,  commissaire  ordonnateur  in  Louisiana,  233,  288. 

D'Artaguette,  Pierre,  serves  in  the  Natchez  war,  288;  is  made  command- 
ant at  the  Illinois,  288 ;  leads  an  expedition  against  the  Chickasaws, 
292 ;  wounded  and  taken  prisoner,  293 ;  perishes  at  the  stake,  294. 

Davidson  and  Stub's  History  of  Illinois,  references  to,  etc.,  132-3,  286, 
298,  347,  389,  396,  397. 

D'Autry,  the  Sieur,  explores  passes  of  the  Mississippi  with  LaSalle,  144. 

Delaware  Indians,  mention,  320,  351. 

De  Leon,  Don  Alonzo,  expedition  of  from  Mexico  to  Fort  St.  Louis,  of 
Texas,  190. 

De  Luna,  Don  Tristan,  leads  a  Spanish  army  of  Invasion  into  West 
Florida,  33,  279. 

De  Monts,  Pierre  du  Guast,  Sieur,  an  officer  of  Henry  IV.'s  household, 
10;  under  letter  patent  he  plants  the  first  French  colony  in  Acadia, 
11.;  loses  his  influence  at  court  on  death  of  that  monarch,  15. 

Detroit,  founded  by  La  Mothe  Cadillac  (in  1701),  344;  its  situation  and 
early  military  history,  344 ;  Indian  siege  of  under  Pontiac,  349. 

De  Villiers,  Capt.  Neyon,  overcomes  Washington  at  Fort  Necessity,  325 ; 
is  made  commandant  of  the  Illinois  at  Fort  Chartres,  312,  342  and 
note;  he  resigns  and  goes  to  New  Orleans,  363;  receives  the  decora- 
tion of  the  Cross  of  St.  Louis,  363. 

De  Vincennes  (or  Vincenne)  Jean  Baptiste  Bissot,  sketch  of,  299;  estab- 
lishes the  post  of  Vincennes,  299,  301 ;  joins  D'Artaguette  in  his 
expedition  against  the  Chickasaws,  292 ;  and  shares  that  officer's 
lamentable  fate,  293. 


Index.  421 

Des  Ursine,  Marc  Antoine  de  la  Loire,  commissary  and  judge  for  the 

India  Company  in  Illinois,  272,  273 ;  killed  at  Natchez,  382. 
Dieskau,  Ludwig  August,  Baron,  a  German-French  general  in  the  Seven 

Years'  War,  330 ;  mortally  wounded  in  battle  near  Crown  Point,  330. 
Dinwiddie,  Robert,  colonial  governor  of  Virginia,  sends  Washington  on 

mission  to  the  French,  321 ;  orders  the  raising  of  a  regiment  to  drive 

the  French  from  Virginia  territory,  323. 

Domestic  Alliancesof  the  French  colonists  with  the  Indians,  8, 204, 303, 412. 
Donnacona,  an  Indian  potentate  at  Quebec,  5 ;  is  carried  by  Cartier  to 

France,  7. 
Douay,  Father  Anastasius,  Recollet  missionary,  155 ;  his  account  of  La 

Salle's  murder,  168*;  ascends  the  Mississippi  and  Illinois  with  Abb£ 

Cavelier,  et  al.,  183-4 ;  returns  to  France,  187 ;  he  accompanies  D'lber- 

ville  in  his  colonizing  expedition  to  the  Mississippi,  215  and  note. 
Du  Gay,  Picard,  companion  of  Hennepin  in  his  Sioux  captivity,  105, 107. 
Duhaut,  M.,  principal  assassin  of  La  Salle,  170;  is  himself  slain  in  afi 

altercation  with  Hiens,  177. 
Du  L'Hut,  Daniel  Greysolon,  penetrates  the  Sioux  country  from  Lake 

Superior,  and  effects  the  release  of  Hennepin,  et  al.,  108;  sketch  of 

his  adventurous  career,  108,  note. 

Dumont's  Historical  Memoir  of  Louisiana,  267,  279,  280,  282,  note,  292. 
Durret's,  R.  T.,  Kentucky  Centennial  Address,  38. 

E. 

Edict  of  Nantes,  when  enacted  and  revoked,  248  note. 
English,  early  efforts  to  discover  the  Mississippi,  38;  surrender  of  the  ' 

Illinois  country  to,  360 ;  duration  of  their  rule,  402. 
"  English  Turn,"  on  Lower  Mississippi,  origin  of  the  phrase,  220. 
Epinay,  M.  de  L',  succeeds  Cadillac  as  governor  of  Louisiana,  245. 

F. 

Farmer,  Major  Robert,  relieves  Captain  Stirling,  in  command  at  Fort 

•  Chartres,  394. 

Florida,  when  discovered,  24 ;  Soto's  remarkable  adventures  in,  24-32  ; 
Narvaez's  expedition  to,  25. 

Forbes,  General  Joseph,  leads  the  second  English  expedition  against 
Fort  Duquesne,  333  ;  death  of,  334. 

Fort  Biloxi,  or  Maurepas,  built  by  Iberville,  219 ;  unfavorable  site  of, 

and  removal  of  the  colony  from,  224 ;  New  Biloxi,  267,  note. 
\^Fort  Chartres,  first  building  of,  271  j^when  rebuilt,  313 ;  Breese's  remarks 
on,  314  ;  Pittman's  description  of,  315  ;  subsequent  history,  316-318. 

Fort  Cr^ve-coeur,  building  of,  93;  why  so  named,  94;  described  by  Hen- 
nepin, 101.  , 

Fort  Duquesne,  begun  by  agents  of  the  Ohio  Company,  323  ;  completed 
and  named  by  Captain  Contrecoeur,  323;  taken  by  the  English  un- 
der General  Forbes,  and  name  changed  to  Fort  Pitt,  334. 

Fort  Frontenac,  when  built,  79 ;  granted  in  seigniory  to  La  Salle,  80 ; 

*  In  this  account,  the  date  of  La  Salle's  murder  should  read  the  19th  instead  of 
the  9th  of  March,  1687. 


422  Index. 

captured  and  demolished  by  the  English  provincials  under  Colonel 
Bradstreet,  333. 

Fort  Gage,  near  Kaskaskia,  removal  of  British  troops  to  from  Fort  Char- 

tres,  316;  Pittman's  notice  of,  391 ;  is  taken  by  Colonel  Clark,  402. 
•  Fort  Massac,  or  Marsiac,  on  the  Lower  Ohio,  335 ;  brief  hist,  of,  335,  note.. 

Fort  Miami,  at  mouth  of  the  St.  Joseph,  built  by  LaSalle,  89. 

Fort  Prudhomme,  on  the  Mississippi,  137,  145. 

Fort  Rosalie,  at  Natchez,  when  built,  242 ;  rebuilt,  284 ;  Pittman's  de- 
scription of  289,  note. 

Fort  St.  Claude,  on  Yazoo  River,  French  garrison  at  massacred  by  the 
Natchez  Indians,  283. 

Fort  St.  Louis  of  Illinois,  when  built,  147;  decline  of,  195. 

Fort  St.  Louis  of  Texas,  161 ;  destruction  of,  191. 

Fort  Louis  de  la  Mobile,  when  first  built,  224 ;  site  of  changed,  227. 

Fort  Ouatanon,  on  the  Wabash,  mention,  299,  303,  note. 

Fort  Toinbectt,  on  the  Tombigbee  River,  built  by  Bienville,  291. 

Fox  River,  of  Wisconsin,  discovered  by  Nicolet,  36;  mention,  51,  195. 

Foxes,  or  Rdnards.     (See  Sacs  and  Foxes.) 

Fowls,  domestic,  among  the  southern  Indians,  38,  216. 

France,  New.     (See  New  France.) 

Francis  I.  of  France,  mention,  4,  7. 

Franciscan  friars,  96,  note. 

Fraser,  Lieutenant  Alexander,  associated  with  Croghan,  353 ;  he  descends 
the  Ohio  to  Illinois,  354 ;  is  buffeted  by  the  Indians  at  Kaskaskia, 
and  flees  down  the  Mississippi  to  New  Orleans,  354. 

French-Canadian  population  at  the  beginning  of  long  war,  325. 

French  Commandants  at  the  Illinois,  table  of,  361. 

French  Colonists  in  Illinois  and  Louisiana,  general  description  of,  404. 

Frontenac,  Louis  de  Buade,  Count  de,  celebrated  governor  of  Canada, 
45 ;  he  sends  Joliet  to  explore  the  Mississippi,  46 ;  dispatch  of  re- 
lating to  his  discovery,  69 ;  erects  Fort  Frontenac  at  the  outlet  of 
Lake  Ontario,  79;  recommends  La  Salle  to  Colbert,  80;  indorses 
Tonty's  petition,  232  ;  expires  in  Quebec,  46. 

G. 

Gage,  General  Thomas,  British  commander,  proclamation  by  to  the  in- 
habitants of  Illinois,  361,  362,  note. 

Gayarre,  Charles,  references  to  and  citations  from  his  History  of  Louisi- 
ana (3  vols.),  213,  note,  219,  293,  note,  295-6,  notes,  312,  note,  351-2,  notes, 
369,  379,  416. 

Gravier  Jacques,  one  of  the  missionary  founders  of  Kaskaskia,  198,  199. 

Green  Bay,  discovered  by  Nicolet,  36 ;  mission  station  at,  51,  61. 

Griffin,  construction  of  at  Niagara,  86  and  note;  lost  on  the  upper  lakes,  88. 

Growth  of  the  French  settlements  in  Illinois,  208,  271. 

Gulf  of  California,  mention,  59,  78. 

Gulf  of  Mexico,  long  a  closed  sea  to  the  French,  38,  154. 

Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence,  explored  and  named  by  Jacques  Cartier,  5. 

Gumbos,  a  nickname  for  the  half-breeds  in  Missouri,  412,  note. 


Index.  423 

H. 

Halifax,  town  of,  British  fleet  sails  from  for  the  reduction  of  Louisburg, 
332. 

Havana,  Soto's  expedition  sails  from  to  Florida,  24 ;  taken  by  the  En- 
glish, 339  ;  restored  to  Spain,  352,  note;  French  state  prisoners  sent 
to  from  Louisiana,  376. 

Helena,  Arkansas,  mention,  59,  note. 

Hennepin,  Father  Louis,  his  nativity,  96 ;  early  monastic  life  and  travels, 
97 ;  conies  as  a  Recollet  missionary  to  Canada,  98 ;  his  active  life  at 
Quebec,  98 ;  joins  La  Halle's  expedition  to  the  West,  99 ;  visits  Niag- 
ara Falls,  99,  note;  makes  a  journey  to  the  principal  village  of  the 
Senecas,  100;  embarks  on  the  Griffin,  100;  his  account  of  Fort 
Cr^ve-coeur,  101  ;  his  daring  canoe  voyage  up  the  Mississippi,  105 ; 
is  captured  by  a  party  of  the  Sioux  Indians,  106 ;  adventures  among 
the  Sioux,  107;  is  released  from  captivity,  108;  return  journey  to 
Canada  and  France,  109;  his  expulsion  from  France,  110;  with- 
draws into  Holland,  and  enters  the  service  of  William  III.,  110; 
decease,  110;  review  of  his  writings,  111,  112;  his  conflicting  esti- 
mate of  LaSalle,  171. 

Henry  IV.  of  France,  issues  letters  patent  to  De  Monts,  10. 

Hiens,  one  of  the  conspirators'  against  Moranget  and  La  Salle,  107 ;  mur- 
ders Duhaut,  177. 

Huguenots,  9 ;  driven  by  persecution  from  France,  248. 

Huron,  Lake,  discovered  by  Champlain,  16. 

Huron  Indians,  mention,  16,  35,  39,  48,  109,  note. 

I. 

Iberville,  Pierre  Le  Moyne,  Sieur  de,  early  naval  career  of,  212 ;  his  colo- 
nizing expedition  to  the  Mississippi,  213,  214;  plants  a  colony  in 
Lower  Louisiana,  218;  revisits  his  colony,  220,  224;  decease  and 
character,  226. 

Illinois  Indians,  loose  confederations  of,  53 ;  meaning  of  the  word  Ittini 
or  Illinois,  53;  they  are  invaded  by  the  Iroquois,  121,  122;  they  aid 
the  French  in  the  Chickasaw  war,  292 ;  are  defeated  by  the  Sacs 
and  Foxes,  387  ;  Pittman's  notice  of,  394. 

Illinois  country,  explored  by  Joliet  and  Marquette,  53,  60;  military  oc- 
cupation of  by  LaSalle,  94;  a  dependency  of  Canada,  194;  a  part  of 
Louisiana,  233 ;  under  M.  Crozat,  234,  et  seq.;  under  Boisbriant  and 
the  Company  of  the  West,  270;  under  the  Royal  government,  288; 
under  the  English  sway,  384;  conquest  of  by  Col.  Clark,  402. 

Illinois  River,  mention,  43,  60,  77,  90,  105 ;  Kennedy's  voyage  on,  399 ; 

Imlay,  Capt.  Gilbert,  work  on  North  America,  399. 

India  Company,  Royal,  successor  to  the  Company  of  the  West,  272; 
surrender  of  the  company's  charter,  286. 

Indian  allies,  value  of  to  the  French  in  war,  326. 

Indian  colony  of  La  Salle  on  the  Illinois,  148. 

Intendant,  office  of,  40,  note. 

Iroquois  (or  Five  Nations),  13;  army  of  invade  the  Illinois  country,  122; 


424  Index. 

burning  of  the  great  town  of  the  Illinois,  124 ;  massacre  of  women 
and  children,  127. 

J. 

Jesuits,  their  first  appearance  in  Canada,  16;  missions  of  in  Illinois,  63, 
196,  199 ;  are  banished  from  Louisiana,  379. 

Jesuit  Order,  history  of,  380,  381 ;  suppressed  by  Pope  Clement  XIV., 
382;  revived  by  Pius  VII.,  382. 

Jesuit  Relations,  383. 

Johnson,  Gen.  Sir  William,  mention,  326,  330 ;  report  of,  348,  note. 

Joliet,  Louis,  commissioned  to  explore  the  Mississippi  River,  46;  his 
birth  and  education  at  Quebec,  46  ;  is  first  sent  by  Talon  to  look  for 
copper  mines  at  Lake  Superior,  46;  with  Father  Marquette,  he 
reaches  the  Mississippi,  52 ;  descends  that  river  to  the  vicinity  of  the 
Arkansas,  59  and  note;  returning,  he  ascends  the  Illinois,  60;  stops 
at  the  Indian  villages  en  route,  61 ;  he  loses  his  manuscripts  in  the 
rapids  at  La  Chine,  67;  reports  his  discoveries  to  Gov.  Frontenac, 
67 ;  his  marriage,  68 ;  makes  a  trip  to  Hudson's  Bay,  68 ;  is  given 
the  Island  of Anticosti,  68 ;  surveys  the  coast  of  Labrador,  68 ;  is 
granted  the  seigniory  of  "  Joliette,"  68 ;  death  and  character,  68,  69.. 

Joliet,  city  of  in  111.,  named  for  the  explorer,  69. 

Joutel,  Henri,  soldier,  accompanies  LaSalle's  expedition  to  Texas,  154 ; 
his  account  of  La  Salle's  assassination,  169;  his  Journal  Historique 
of  the  expedition,  187. 

Juchereau,  Sieur  de,  a  Canadian  officer,  299,  300,  note. 

Jumonville,  Sieur  Coulon  de,  killed  in  action  at  Little  Meadows,  324, 
and  note. 


Kankakee  (Te-a-ki-ki)  River,  a  constituent  branch  of  the  Illinois,  men- 
tion, 90,  135,  197,  note. 

Kappa,  or  Quappa,  a  noted  village  of  the  Arkansas  on  Lower  Missis- 
sippi, 58  note,  138,  183. 

Kaskaskia,  Indian  village  on  the  Illinois  River,  first  visited  by  Joliet  and 
Marquette,  60 ;  Mission  of  the  I.  C.  V.  founded  there  by  Father 
Marquette,  63 ;  re-established  by  Father  Allouez,  198 ;  removal  of 
the  mission  and  tribe  to  the  site  of  the  present  Kaskaskia,  199 ; 
early  history  of  the  mission  and  settlement  on  the  Mississippi,  204'; 
Charlvoix'  visit  to,  209 ;  Pittman's  description  of,  390 ;  subsequent 
decline  of  the  village,  403,  note. 

Kaskaskias,  a  leading  tribe  of  the  Illinois,  mention,  60,  63,  196,  202,  209r 
290,  394. 

Kennedy,  Patrick,  his  journey  up  the  Illinois  River  in  search  of  copper 
mines,  399. 

Kerlerec,  M.  de,  governor  of  the  Province  of  Louisiana  (1753-1763),  312 ; 
ordered  to  return  to  France,  and  incarcerated  in  the  Bastile,  314 ; 
paper  money  issued  under  his  administration,  412. 

Kingsford,  William,  references  to  his  History  of  Canada,  20,  67,  notef 
416,  note. 


Index.  425 

Kiskakons,  a  christianized  branch  of  the  Ottawa  Indians,  disinter  and 
remove  Marquette's  remains,  65. 

L. 

Labrador,  visited  by  the  Cortereals  to,  3;  coast  of  surveyed  by  Joliet,  68. 

La  Barre,  Le  Febvre  de,  governor  of  Canada  (1683-1685),  149;  he  de- 
deposes  La  Salle  from  the  command  of  Forts  Frontenac  and  St. 
Louis,  152. 

La  Buissoniere,  Alphonse  de,  succeeds  D'Artaguette  as  commandant  at 
the  Illinois,  and  takes  part  in  the  second  Chickasaw  war.  295. 

Laclede,  Pierre  Liguest,  principal  founder  of  St.  Louis,  Missouri,  385 ; 
sketch  of,  385,  note. 

La  Forrest,  a  lieutenant  of  La  Salle,  118,  120,  153,  154,  195. 

La  Harpe,  Bernard  de,  adventures  of  in  the  southwest,  260,  261 ;  is  sent 
by  Bienville  to  form  an  establishment  on  the  Bay  of  St.  Bernard,  262. 

La  Hontan,*  Armand  Louis  de  Delondarce,  Baron  de,  a  noted  French  offi- 
cer and  traveler,  56,  note ;  his  curious  account  of  Michilimackinac,  109, 
note ;  his  notice  of  the  priest  Cavelier  and  his  traveling  party,  180, 
note. 

La  Motte,  de  Lusiere,  an  associate  of  La  Salle  in  his  first  great  exploring 
enterprise,  83,  85,  86. 

La  Salle,  Robert  Cavelier  Sieur  de,  his  Norman  birth  and  parentage,  71 ; 
receives  his  education  from  the  Jesuits,  71,  72;  emigrates  to  Canada, 
72;  founds  Lachine,  above  Montreal,  72;  discovers  the  Ohio,  76;  se- 
cures the  patronage  of  Gov.  Frontenac,  78 ;  is  granted  the  seigniory 
of  Fort  Frontenac,  80;  builds  the  Griffin  on  the  Niagara,  86;  voy- 
ages with  her  through  the  upper  lakes,  87  ;  he  enters  the  country  of 
the  Illinois,  89;  difficulties  with  the  natives  and  his  men,  92;  builds 
Fort  CreVe-coeur  at  foot  of  Peoria  Lake,  93,  94 ;  sends  Hennepin  to 
explore  the  Upper  Mississippi,  95  ;  his  return  journey  to  Fort  Fron- 
tenac, 115;  second  expedition  to  the  West,  118;  its  failure,  120;  he 
negotiates  with  the  Western  tribes,  131 ;  descends  the  Mississippi  to 
the  Gulf,  136-141  ;  takes  possession  of  the  country  for  the  King  of 
France,  142;  erects  Fort  St.  Louis  on  the  Illinois,  147;  forms  an  In- 
dian colony  around  it,  148 ;  corresponds  with  Gov.  La  Barre,  149, 
150 ;  is  dismissed  from  his  command  by  that  functionary,  152 ;  he  goes 
to  Old  France,  153;  is  given  audience  by  the  King,  154;  sails  with 
a  colony  for  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  156;  lands  at'  Matagorda 
Bay,  158;  builds  a  fort  there,  160;  wanderings  in  the  wilderness  of 
Texas,  162, 163;  sets  out  for  the  Illinois  and  Canada,  butreturns,  164; 
he  again  sets  forth  and  is  assassinated  on  the  way,  165;  analysis  of 
his  character,  171  et  seq.;  concealment  of  his  death,  183,  185;  de- 
struction of  his  colony,  191. 

La  Salle  Co.,  Illinois,  named  in  memory  of  the  great  explorer,  196. 

La  Tour^early  French  engineer  in  Louisiana,  263. 

Lake  Michigan,  or  Lac  des  Illinois,  discovered  by  Nicolet,  35-6. 

Lake  Superior,  mention,  39,  40,  48.' 


'Incorrectly  printed  La  Houtan,  in  note  on  page  99. 


426  Index. 

Law,  John,  Scotch  financier  and  adventurer,  birth  and  education  of,  249 ; 
his  theory  of  banking,  249;  is  patronized  by  the  Duke  of  Orleans, 
250 ;  he  establishes  a  bank  in  Paris,  250 ;  his  Mississippi  scheme, 
251 ;  public  infatuation  thereat,  252;  progress  of  his  credit  system, 
253 ;  its  collapse,  257 ;  he  flees  from  France,  258  ;  dies  in  poverty  at 
Venice,  259. 

Lead  mines  in  Missouri,  worked  by  the  French,  239  ;  in  Illinois,  275  and 
note. 

League,  French,  length  of,  52,  note. 

Le  Clercq,  Father  CrStien,  104,  note;  his  History  of  the  Establishment  of 
the  Faith  in  New  France,  112,  note ;  his  account  of  La  Salle's  last  ex- 
pedition by  sea,  161 ,  note. 

Le  Clercq,  Father  Maximus,  Recollet  missionary  in  Texas,  155,  192. 

Lesdigueres,  Duchesse  de,  mention,  211. 

Le  Sueur,  Pierre,  a  French  voyageur,  mention,  201,  300,  note. 

L6vis,  Chevalier  de,  successor  to  Montcalm,  338. 

Letters  patent  to  La  Salle,  81 ;  to  M.  Crozat,  234. 

Liotot,  surgeon,  and  one  of  La  Salle's  assassins,  170  ;  his  violent  death, 
177,  178  and  note. 

Loftus,  Major  Arthur,  his  unsuccessful  attempt  to  ascend  the  Mississippi 
to  Fort  Chartres,  352. 

Lord,  Captain  Hugh,  English  commandant  at  the  Illinois,  successor  to 
Wilkins,398. 

Louisiana,  Lower,  permanent  settlement  of  by  the  French,  212;  cession 
of  the  country  to  Spain.  364,  365. 

Louis  XIV.  of  France,  falls  heir  to  the  throne  at  the  age  of  five 
years,  246;  erects  Canada  into  a  royal  province,  19  ;  issues  patent  of 
nobility  to  La  Salle,  80;  demise  of,  246;  review  of  his  reign  and 
,  character,  247,  248. 

Louis  XV.,  cedes  Western  Louisiana  ,by  private  treaty  to  Spain,  339, 
363 ;  his  letter  concerning  the  cession  to  Gov.  d'Abbadie,  365,  366. 

Louisburg,  fortress  of,  taken  by  the  English,  312 ;  second  siege  arid  cap- 
ture of,  332,  333,  note. 

Loyola,  Ignatius,  originator  of  the  Order  of  Jesuits,  380. 

M. 

Macarty,  Chevalier  de,  major-commandant  at  the  Illinois  during  the 
rebuilding  of  Fort  Chartres,  313;  mention,  324,  361. 

Major-commandants,  functions  of  the,  308. 

Manitou,  Indian  name  for  the  Deity,  51  and  note. 

Maps,  Marquette's,  50,  62 ;  Joliet's,  67  and  note ;  Franquelin's  and  Henne- 
pin's,  93 ;  Delisle's,  99,  note. 

Marest,  Gabriel,  missionary  priest  at  Kaskaskia,  199;  he  transfers  the 
mission  of  the  Immaculate  Conception  from  the  Illinois  River  to  the 
site  of  the  present  Kaskaskia,  199-203;  extracts  from  his  cor- 
respondence, 205,  206. 

Margry,  Pierre,  French  author,  references  to  his  works,  68,  76,  note, 
104-5,  notes,  151,  note,  191,  note,  197,  note. 


Index.  427 

Marquette,  Pere  Jacques,  born  at  Laon,  France,  47 ;  he  enters  the  So- 
ciety of  Jesus,  and  is  ordained  to  the  priesthood,  47  ;  sails  as  a  mis- 
sionary to  Canada,  and  studies  the  Indian  languages  under  Father 
Dreuilletes,  47 ;  with  Father  Dablon,  he  founds  the  mission  of  St. 
Mary  of  the  Falls,  48 ;  is  thence  sent  to  St.  Esprit  near  western  ex- 
tremity of  Lake  Superior,  48 ;  returning,  he  founds  the  mission  of 
St.  Ignace  at  Old  Mackinac,  49 ;  with  M.  Joliet,  he  discovers  and  ex- 
plores the  Mississippi  River,  50-60;  table  of  the  distances  traveled, 
61 ,  note ;  his  journal  of  their  great  canoe  voyage,  61 ,  62  ;  he  establishes 
the  mission  of  the  Immaculate  Conception  on  the  Illinois  River, 
63 ;  sets  out  from  thence  on  his  return  to  St.  Ignace,  64 ;  dies  and 
is  buried  on  the  eastern  shore  of  Lake  Michigan,  65 ;  removal  of  his 
remains  to  St.  Ignace,  65 ;  his  religious  and  general  character,  66. 

Mascoutins,  allied  tribe  of  the  Miamis,  51,  92. 

Massac,  or  Marsiac.     (See  Fort  Massac.) 

Mason,  E.  G.,  his  account  of  the  Kaskaskia  Mission,  200-203 ;  also  of  the 
ruins  of  Fort  Chartres,  316. 

Maillet,  M.  Hypolite,  founds  French  village  on  Peoria  Lake,  401,  note. 

Membre,  Zenobius,  Recollet  friar  and  follower  of  La  Salle,  85,  87  ;  his 
description  of  the  Illinois  Indians,  103 ;  exciting  experience  with 
the  Iroquois,  124, 125 ;  he  perishes  at  Ft.  Louis  of  Texas,  192 ;  notice 
of  his  life,  192. 

Menard,  Father  Rene,  first  French  missionary  in  the  region  of  Lake 
Superior,  39  and  note. 

Mermet,  Jean,  a  missionary  priest  on  the  Lower  Ohio,  300  and  note;  and 
an  associate  of  Father  Marest  at  Kaskaskia,  205. 

Meurin,  Sebastian  Louis,  last  Jesuit  missionary  in  the  Illinois,  391,  note. 

Mexico,  French  attempts  at  trade  relations  with,  240,  242. 

Miamis  Indians,  a  kindred  tribe  of  the  Illinois,  51,  132,  133,  299. 

Michilimackinac,  or  Mackinac,  49  and  note ;  mission  of  St.  Ignace  at,  49 ; 
visited  by  La  Salle  in  the  Griffin,  87 ;  described  by  La  Hontan,  109,  note. 

Mills,  water,  at  Kaskaskia  and  Cahokia,  271. 

Missionaries  in  Illinois  and  Louisiana,  Jesuits,  63,  194 ;  Recollets,  103, 
121 ;  Sulpitians,  393. 

Mississippi  Company,  Laws,  251,  252;  its  advantages  to  the  Province  of 
Louisiana,  250,  286. 

Mississippi  River,  Spanish  discovery  of  the,  24;  different  names  of,  28, 
note;  French  discovery  and  exploration  of,  45. 

Missouri  River,  discovered  by  Joliet  and  Marquette,  56 ;  said  to  have 
been  first  explored  by  La  Hontan,  56,  note. 

Missouri  Indians,  allies  of  the  French,  destroy  expedition  of  the  Span- 
iards from  New  Mexico,  268. 

Mobile  River,  visited  by  De  Soto,  26;  French  fort  on,  224. 

Mohegan  Indians,  band  settle  at  Ft.  Miami,  130;  party  of,  follow  La  Salle 
to  the  outlet  of  the  Mississippi,  135. 

Monso,  a  Mascoutin  chief,  intrigues  with  the  Illinois  against  La  Salle,  92. 

Montcalm,  Louis  Joseph,  Marquis  de,  captures  Fort  Ontario  and  Fort 
William  Henry,  330,  331 ;  defeats  Abercrombie  at  Ticonderoga,  333 ; 


428  Index. 

is  vanquished  by  Wolf  at  Quebec,  337, 338 ;  sketch  of  his  brilliant  ca- 
reer, 340,  note. 

Montmagny,  Charles  Huault  de,  succeeds  Champlain  in  the  government 
of  the  Canadian  colony,  18. 

Montreal,  when  settled,  22 ;  religious  origin  and  early  annals  of,  22,  23. 

Moranget,  Sieur  de,  nephew  of  La  Salle,  155  ;  murder  of,  167. 

Moses,  John,  History  of  Illinois,  references  to,  62,  207,  394,  note,  395,  398, 
399. 

Mound  Builders,  ancient,  33,  285,  note. 

Morris,  Captain  Thomas,  adventures  with  the  Indians,  351,  252  and  note. 

Muscoso,  Luis  de,  lieutenant  and* successor  to  De  Soto,  31 ;  conducts  the 
remains  of  Soto's  expedition  to  Panuco,  Mexico,  32. 

N. 

Nadouessiouxs.     (See  Sioux.) 

Narvaez,  Pamphilio  de,  a  Spanish  adventurer  in  Florida,  25. 

Natchez  Indians,  visited  by  La  Salle,  140 ;  their  strange  history,  277-279 ; 
they  massacre  the  French  at  Fort  Rosalie,  282;  war  with,  284;  ex- 
termination of  the  nation,  285. 

Natchitoches,  post  of,  when  established,  245 ;  mention,  260,  378. 

Natchitoches  Indians,  mention,  188,  242,  260,  285 ;  New  Chartres,  when 
built,  313,  314. 

New  Orleans,  origin  of,  246 ;  founded  by  Bienville,  263;  named  for  the 
Duke  of  Orleans,  263;  visited  by  Charlevoix  (1721),  263,  264;  is  made 
by  Gov.  Bienville  the  capital  of  Louisiana,  164. 

New  France,  a  name  originally  bestowed  by  the  navigator,  Verrazano, 
upon  the  north-eastern  coast  of  North  America,  13;  History  of. 
(See  Charlevoix.) 

Niagara  Falls,  Hennepin's  visit  to  and  description  of,  99  and  note. 

Nicanope,  a  chief  of  the  Peorias,  92. 

Nicolet,  Jean,  early  life  of,  among  the  Ottawas  and  Nipissings,  34;  his 
voyage  of  discovery  in  the  North-west,  35,  36 ;  he  marries  an  adopted 
daughter  of  Champlain,  37 ;  is  drowned  in  the  St.  Lawrence,  38. 

Nipissing  Lake,  discovered  by  Champlain,  16. 

Nonville  (or  Denonville),  Jacques  Rene  de  Brisay,  Marquis  de,  governor 
of  Canada  (1685-1689),  229,  231  and  note. 

Northmen,  in  North  America,  1  and  2. 

Nouvelle  France,  a  name  applied  to  all  the  French-Canadian  coun- 
try, 13,  19. 

Nova  Scotia.     (See  Acadia.) 

0. 

Ohio  River,  discovery  of  by  La  Salle,  76,  77. 

Qnondagas,  a  tribe  of  Iroquois,  76,  79,  123. 

Onanghisse,  a  Pottawatomie  sachem,  noted  saying  of,  129. 

Ortiz,  Juan,  interpreter  for  De  Soto,  25,  29. 

O'Reilly,  Don  Alexandro,  Spanish  military  governor  of  Louisiana,  373 ; 
sketch  of,  note;  his  proclamation  of  amnesty,  375  ;  he  punishes  the 
revolutionary  leaders  and  reorganizes  the  government  of  Louisiana, 
376,  377. 


Index.  429 

Osage  Indians,  mention  of,  92,  268,  269. 

Ottawa  Indians,  so  called  from  the  river  on  which  they  dwelt,  13,  note ; 

expert  builders  of  bark  canoes,  411. 
Ouabouskigou,  the  Ohio,  or  Ouabache,  of  the  French,  56. 
Ouisconsing  (Wisconsin)   River,  first  descended  by  Joliet  and  Mar- 

quette,  52  ;  mention,  95,  195. 
Ouichita,  or  Ouachita  (Washita),  a  river  of  Arkansas,  explored  by  Bien- 

ville,  228. 
Oumas,  or  Houmas,  one  of  the  bravest  tribes  on  the  Lower  Mississippi, 

217,  220;  visited  by  Iberville,  217. 
Outagamies,  a  name  given  by  French  explorers  to  the  Foxes,  131. 


Paris,  Treaty  of,  339 ;  seventh  article  of  the  treaty,  363,  note. 

Parkman,  Francis,  historian,  references  to  and  quotations  from  his  works, 

75,  note,  77,  120,  note,  137,  151,  165,  166,  188,  193,  229,  248,  note,  361. 
Pascagoula  River,  mention,  219. 
Passes  of  the  Mississippi,  explored  by  La  Salle  and  Tonty,  141 ;  surveyed 

by  La  Tour,  263. 
Pensacola,  Florida,  fort  erected  at  by  the  Spaniards,  214;  it  is  taken, 

retaken,  and  demolished  by  the  French,  267;  transferred  to  the 

English  by  the  treaty  of  Paris,  352,  note. 
Peoria  Lake,  La  Salle's  first  arrival  in,  91  ;  description  of  the  lake,  94, 

note,  208. 
Peoria  Village,  Indian,  situation  and  extent  of,  91.  100;   Charlevoix' 

notice  of  the  village,  208  ;  Kennedy's  visit  to,  400. 
Peoria  Village,  French  and  American,  401,  note. 

Pepperell,  Sir  William,  captures  Louisburg  (1745)  from  the  French,  312. 
P^rier.  M.  de,  governor  of  Louisiana  during  the  Natchez  war,  277 ;  is 

promoted  to  the  rank  of  lieutenant-general,  288. 
Piaukashaws,  village  of  on  the  Wabash,  301 ;  mention,  356. 
Piasa,  pictured  rocks  at,  55  and  note. 
Pinet,  Father  Jacques,  principal  founder  of  Cahokia,  207;  success  of 

his  mission  there,  207. 
Pirogue,  an  Indian  canoe,  6,  note. 
Pittman.  Captain  Philip,  sent  to  Pensacola,  Florida  (1763),  389;  extracts 

from  his  account  of  the   French  settlements  on  the  Mississippi, 

390-394. 
Pontchartrain,  Count  de,  French  minister  of  colonies,  220;  his  answer 

to  the  application  of  Huguenot  families  from  Carolina  to  settle  in 

Louisiana,  220. 
Pontiac,  celebrated  Ottawa  chief,  interposes  in  favor  of  Major  Rogers' 

advance  to  Detroit,  343;  sketch  of,  346;   his  conspiracy  and  war 

against  the  English.  347,  et  seg.;  unsuccessful  attack  and  siege  of 

Detroit,  349 ;  capture  of  other  Western  posts,  350 ;  disappointed  at 

lack  of  French  support,  351 ;   he  marches  into  the  Illinois,  354 ; 

speech  by  at  Fort  Chartres,  354;  he  yields  to  the  inevitable  and 

confers  with  Colonel  Croghan  at  Fort  Ouatanon,  357;  his  peace 


430  'Index. 

speeches  at  Detroit  and  Oswego,  359.  360 ;  retires  to  the  shades  of 

the  Maumee,  360  ;  his  last  visit  to  the  Illinois,  386 ;  is  murdered  by 

a  Kaskaskia  Indian  at  Cahokia,  Illinois,  and  buried  by  Captain  St. 

Ange  in  St.  Louis,  Missouri,  387  and  note. 

Population  (foreign)  of  Illinois  at  the  time  of  the  British  occupation,  389. 
Population  of  the  province  of  Louisiana  at  the  beginning  of  the  Spanish 

rule,  377,  378. 

Pottawatomie  Indians,  first  visited  by  Nicolet,  37;  mention,  88,  128. 
Prairie  du  Chien,  village  of,  on  the  Upper  Mississippi,  52,  note. 
Prairie  du  Pont,  a  suburb  of  Cahokia,  394. 
Prairie  du  R6cher,  a  village  in  vicinity  of  Fort  Chartres,  276 ;  Pittman's 

account  of.  391 ,  note. 
Prudhomme,  Pierre,  with  La  Salle  on  the  Mississippi,  137;  fort  named 

for,  137. 

Q. 

Quebec,  city  of,  site  first  visited  by  Cartier,  5 ;  founded  by  Champlain, 
13;  surrendered  to  the  English  under  Captain  Kirk,  17;  restored  to 
the  French,  18;  failure  of  Sir  William  Phipps'  attack  upon,  20; 
stone  fortifications  at,  21  ;  the  city  is  taken  by  the  English  under 
Wolfe,  337,  338 ;  unsuccessful  efforts  of  the  French  to  retake  the 
citadel,  338. 

"  Quebec  Bill,"  its  effects  upon  the  French  colonists. 

Quint^,  bay  of  on  Ontario  Lake,  seat  of  a  Sulpitian  mission,  73  and  note. 

Quinipissas  Indians  (the  Bayagoulas  of  Iberville  and  Bienville),  La 
Salle's  experience  with,  141,  144;  Tonty  leaves  a  letter  with  one  of 
their  chiefs,  182,  216. 

R. 

Randolph  County,  Illinois,  ruins  of  Fort  Chartres  in,  317. 

Rasles,  Sebastian,  a  noted  Jesuit  missionary  in  Illinois  and  Maine,  198. 

Red  River,  of  Louisiana,  discovered  by  the  Spaniards,  31. 

Renault,  Philip,  Francois  de,  director-general  of  the  mining  operations 
of  the  Mississippi  Company,  274;  he  founds  the  village  bearing  his 
name,  275. 

Reynolds,  John,  Pioneer  History  of  Illinois,  references  to  and  quota- 
tions from,  317,  335,  note,  346,  note,  394,  407,  note,  414,  note. 

Ribaut,  Jean,  attempts  to  plant  a  Huguenot  colony  in  East  Florida,  9. 

Ribourde,  Gabriel  de  la,  a  Recollet  friar  with  La  Salle  in  Illinois,  84, 101, 
104 ;  is  slain  by  a  scouting  party  of  Kickapoos,  126. 

Richelieu,  Cardinal,  organizes  the  company  of  "  One  Hundred  Asso- 
ciates," 17 ;  charter  of,  when  abandoned,  19. 

Rio  del  Norte,  or  Rio  Grande,  reached  and  crossed  by  St.  Denis,  243. 

Rocheblave,  Philippe  Francois  de  Rastel  de,  commands  for  the  British 
at  Fort  Gage,  399 ;  is  sent  a  prisoner  to  Virginia  by  Col.  Clark,  472. 

Rogers,  Major  Robert,  takes  military  possession  of  Detroit,  343 ;  and  of 
other  western  posts,  345. 

Roman  Catholic  Church,  devotion  of  the  French  colonists  to,  414  and  note. 

Rosalie.     (See  Fort  Rosalie.) 

Ryswick,  Treaty  of,  212. 


Index.  431 


8. 

Sacs,  or  Sauks,  and  Foxes,  mention,  36,  131,  299. 

Sangamon  River,  mention,  400  and  note. 

Santa  F^,  New  Mexico,  when  settled,  267,  note. 

Sault  de  Ste. .Marie,  mission  established  at  by  the  Jesuits,  48. 

Sau voile — M.  de  Sauvolle  de  la  Villantry— a  brother  or  associate  of  D'lber- 
ville,  and  first  colonial  governor  in  Louisiana,  213,  219;  his  early 
death  at  Fort  Biloxi,  223. 

Senat,  a  Jesuit  Father  and  volunteer  in  D'Artaguette's  southern  expe- 
dition, 292  ;  he  is  martyred  at  the  stake  by  the  Chickasaws,  294. 

Shawnees,  restless  character  of,  56,  note. 

Shea,  John  Gilmary,  references  to  and  quotations  from  his  works,  12, 
note,  39,  note.,  64,  65,  76,  note,  104,  note,  113,  note,  163,  note,  197,  note,  228; 
decease  of,  416,  note. 

Ship  Island,  first  lauding-place  of  Iberville's  colony,  214. 

Sioux  Indians,  48,  106  and  note.. 

Slaves,  Negro,  introduced  into  Louisiana  by  Crozat,  238 ;  number  of  at 
the  close  of  the  French  rule,  337. 

Soto,  Hernando  de,  Spanish  discoverer  of  the  Mississippi,  241;  his  re- 
markable expedition  through  Florida,  24-32. 

Starved  Rock,  legend  of,  387. 

Stirling,  Captain  Thomas,  takes  British  possession  of  Fort  Chart-res,  360; 
what  became  of  him,  394,  note. 

Stoddard,  Major  Amos,  317  and  note. 

StA  Anthony's  Falls,  discovered  and  named  by  Hennepin,  107  ;  descrip- 
tion of,  107,  108,  note. 

St.  Cosme,  Jean  Francois  Buisson  de,  a  missionary  priest  at  the  Natchez, 
200;  sketch  of,  201,  note. 

St.  Croix,  or  St.  Charles,  a  tributary  of  the  St.  Lawrence  at  Quebec, 
5,  7,  12. 

St.  Francis  Xavier,  name  of  the  Jesuit  mission  on  Green  Bay,  51,  61. 

St.  Denis,  or  Denys,  Louis  Juchereau  de,  his  adventurous  overland  jour- 
t  ney  to  Mexico,  242-244 ;  appointed  commandant  at  the  post  of  Natch- 
itoches,  244 ;  sketch  of,  245,  note. 

Ste.  Genevieve,  Missouri,  when  settled,  306. 

St.  Louis  Missouri,  when  and  by  whom  founded,  385  and  note ;  early  his- 
tory of  the  village,  388. 

St.  Lusson,  Simon  Francois  Daumont  de,  sent  by  Talon  on  a  mission  to 
the  upper  lake  region,  40 ;  he  holds  an  important  conference  with 
the  North-western  tribes,  41,  42. 

St.  Peter's  ( Minnesota)  River,  French  fort  erected  on  by  Le  Sueur,  221 ,  note. 

St.  Philippe,  a  small  village  in  the  neighborhood  of  Fort  Chartres,  275. 

St.  Pierre,  Le  Gardeur  de,  commanding  officer  at  Fort  sur  la  riviere  au 
Boeuf,  322 ;  his  letter  of  reply  to  Governor  Dinwiddie,  322,  323. 

Sugar-cane,  when  introduced  into  Louisiana,  297. 


432  Index. 

T. 

Talon,  Jean  Baptiste,  first  intendant  of  Canada  under  the  government 
of  the  crown,  20;  slight  sketch  of,  40,  note;  he  recommends  the  ap- 
pointment of  Joliet  to  explore  the  Mississippi,  46. 

Taensas  Indians,  a  kindred  tribe  of  the  Natchez,  La  Salle's  arrival  among, 
139 ;  their  habitations,  life,  and  worship,  139,  140. 

Tamaroas,  one  of  the  five  tribes  of  the  Illinois,  mention,  105,  127 ;  Jesuit 
mission  established  among,  207. 

Tampa  Bay,  Florida,  landing-place  of  De  Soto,  25. 

Tejas  Indians,  name  of  Texas  derived  from,  164,  note. 

Texas,  country  of  claimed  by  Spain,  190;  unsuccessful  attempts  of  the 
French  to  plant  colonies  in,  194,  262. 

Timber,  kinds  of  most  abundant  in  Illinois,  400,  note. 

Tombigbee  River,  ascended  by  Bienville  in  his  expedition  against  the 
Chickasaws,  291 ;  also  by  Governor  de  Vaudreuil,  298. 

Tonty,  Henri  de,  lieutenant  of  La  Salle,  83 ;  his  early  military  career,  84 ; 
accompanies  La  Salle  to  New  France  (1677),  85;  superintends  th6 
construction  of  the  Griffin,  86  ;  sails  with  his  chief  to  Mackinac,  87 ; 
goes  thence  to  Sault  de  Ste.  Marie,  88 ;  arrives  in  the  Illinois,  89 ;  is 
left  in  command  at  Fort  Cnh-e-coeur,  115;  his  perilous  encounter 
with  the  Iroquois,  123 ;  escapes  with  his  party  to  the  Pottawatomies, 
128,  129 ;  he  descends  the  Mississippi  with  La  Salle,  135,  et  seq.;  as- 
sists in  constructing  Fort  St.  Louis  on  the  Illinois  Hiver,  147 ;  is 
given  charge  of  the  fort  by  La  Salle,  but  superseded  in  command 
by  De  Baugis,  152 ;  afterward  reinstated,  182 ;  his  river  voyage  to  the 
Gulf  in  search  of  La  Salle,  182;  establishes  a  post  on  the  Arkansas, 
182;  heroic  attempt  to  succor  the  remains  of  La  Salle's  Texan  col- 
ony, 188;  is  continued  in  command  at  the  Illinois,  194,  195;  finally 
joins  D'Iberville  on  the  Lower  Mississippi,  221 ;  is  sent  thence  on  a 
mission  to  the  Chickasaws,  228  ;  dies  at  Fort  Louis,  on  the  Mobile, 
228 ;  summary  of  his  character,  229 ;  printed  memoirs  of,  230 ;  his 
petition  to  Count  Pontchartrain,  231. 

Tonty,  Alphonse  de,  brother  of  Henri,  229. 

Trois  Rivieres,  town  on  the  St.  Lawrence,  founded  by  Champlain,  18, 
mention,  37,  47. 

Tunica  Bend,  scene  of  Major  Loftus'  attack  by  Tunica  Indians,  352. 

Tuscarora  Indians,  a  sixth  tribe  of  the  Iroquois  nation,  320,  note. 

U. 

Ulloa,  Don  Antonio  de,  first  Spanish  governor  sent  to  Louisiana,  371 ; 
letter  of  to  the  Superior  Council,  371 ;  his  expulsion  from  the  prov- 
ince, 373. 

Ucita,  an  Indian  town  on  Tampa  Bay,  Florida,  25. 

Utica,  Illinois,  mention,  146,  196. 

Utrect,  Treaty  of,  21. 

Vaca,  Cabeca,  or  Cabeza  de,  an  early  Spanish  wanderer  in  Florida,  29  and 

note. 
Vaudveuil,  Pierre  Francois  de  Rigaud,  Marquis  de,  governor  of  Louisi- 


Index.  433 

ana  (1742-1753),  296;  prosperity  of  the  province  under  his  admin- 

istration, 297  ;  he  is  promoted  to  the  governorship  of  Canada,  312; 

jealousy  and  contentions  with  General  Montcalin,  340,  note  ;  charges 

preferred  against  him  by  friends  of  the  latter,  on  which  he  is  tried 

and  acquitted,  340,  341,  note;  death  of  in  Paris,  Ibid. 
Vega,  Garcilasso  de  la,  a  Spanish  historian  of  De  Soto's  Expedition,  30,  33, 

note. 
Venango,   Indian  village   and   military  post  on  the  Alleghany  River, 

321,  350. 
Verrazano,  Juan,  a  celebrated  Florentine  navigator  ;  early  voyage  of  dis- 

covery to  North  America,  4. 

Vexilla,  or  vexilla  regis  prodeunt,  first  line  of  grand  Latin  hymn,  144,  198. 
Vicanque,  ancient  Indian  town  on  the   upper  waters  of  the  Arkan- 

sas, 29. 

Viucennes,  Jean  Baptiste  Bissot  de.     (See  De  Vincennes.) 
Vincennes,  Indiana,  beginning  of,  299;  early  history,  301,  302;  visited 

by  Croghan,  303,  note. 
Virginia,  Illinois  made  a  county  of,  402. 

W. 

Wabash  River,  when  French  posts  first  established  on,  299. 
Washington,  George,  mission  to  the  headwaters  of  the  Ohio,  321  ;  sur- 

renders Fort  Necessity,  325;   gallant  conduct  at  Braddock's  de- 

feat, 328. 
Wars  of  the  French  with  the  Spaniards,  265-268  ;  with  the  Natchez, 

277-285;  with  the  Chickasaws,  290-298;  with  the  English,  20,  312, 

319-339  ;  Pontiac's  war,  346-360. 
West,  Company  of  the,  when  organized,  252;  operations  of  in  Louisi- 

ana and  Illinois,  259,  571  ;  charter  of  surrendered  to  the  crown,  286; 

benefits  of  its  sway,  287. 
William  III.  of  England,  sends  two  vessels  to  explore  the  outlet  of  the 

Mississippi,  113,  220. 
Winnebago  Indians,  a  branch  of  the  Sioux  or  Dakota  nation  ;  Nicolet's 

visit  to  and  account  of,  36;  mention,  41. 
Wilkins,  Lieutenant-Colonel  John,  succeeds  Colonel  Reed  as  English 

commandant  at  the  Illinois,  395;  account  of  his  administration, 

395-398. 

Will  of  La  Salle,  134,  note. 
Wolfe,  General  James,  distinguishes  himself  at  the  reduction  of  Louis- 

burg,  336  ;  his  siege  of  Quebec,  337  ;  dies  on  the  field  of  battle,  338. 
Wolfe  and  Montcalm  Monument,  341,  note. 
Wolfe's  column,  Ibid. 

Y. 

Yazoo  River,  De  Soto  winters  at  village  on,  27  ;  French  Fort  on,  283. 
Yalobusha  River,  in  Northern  Mississippi,  rendezvous  of  D'Artaquette 
in  his  unfortunate  expedition  against  the  Chickasaws,  292. 


FINIS. 


